Animorphs 2 0
by Sharklist6285
Summary: AU where Tobias is raised by Elfangor, who forms the Animorphs on Earth.
1. Elfangor's Story

A/N: Hi peepels. This is my story about Elfangor and Tobias. I've always felt there was so much missing there, so I've added it. This is an au where Elfangor never left Tobias. Hope you like it! R&R. Just so you know, I think disclaimer's are overrated. I think it's obvious that I do not own this story.

My name is Elfangor. Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. This is my story.

As you can probably tell from my name, I am not human, though I appear to be. I was born on the faraway home of my species; the Andalites. We are, shall we say, different from humans. The most prominent one is that we are much more advanced in technology. We have invented something called the _Escafil device_ , which allows us to change our form. The way it works is that you touch a living organism and "acquire" it's DNA. Once the DNA enters your bloodstream, you can morph into that creature at will. However, there is a drawback. You may not remain in morph for more than two Earth hours. If you do, you will forever be trapped in that morph. You will become what we Andalites call a _nothlit_. We also have perfected the art of space travel allowing us to roam the galaxies. It was this way that we encountered another species, quite different from us. They were called Yeerks. They are parasites. Looking similar to the earth creatures called slugs, they enter the brain through the ear canal and take control of the host. The Yeerks are blind; they need hosts to see and move around normally. However this takes free will away from their hosts. When the Andalites first came to the Yeerk home world, there was one Andalite who felt sorry for them. This species, which had just started to evolve, could use some help. He gave them the gift of star flight and other technologies. However, this turned out to be a mistake. With their newfound technologies, the Yeerks set off from their home world in search of new species to enslave. And so began the great Yeerk Empire.

They made a deal with the Taxxons, a merciless, cannibalistic, race of ever hungry creatures. Their appearance has the features of a giant centipede, whose upper body stands upright, with four, red, jelly-like eyes, and a round gaping mouth with razor sharp teeth. The Yeerks also took control over the Hork-Bajir, a fairly peaceful race engineered by another species on their home world to harvest bark from trees. They have fierce appearances, looking a lot like walking dinosaurs with added blades. They have blades at the elbows, knees, ankles, and wrists, horns, clawed feet and a spiked tail. Despite all that, the Hork-Bajir are peaceful and prefer to live in their trees harvesting their bark, but then, the Yeerks invaded, forced them off their world and made them into the perfect killing machines. This was the reason for the institution of the law of Seerow's Kindness. Seerow, the Andalite who first gave the Yeerks the technology to fly, did it out of kindness, yet this kindness could have destroyed the Galaxy. So it was decided that no more would an Andalite interfere in the events of another species. Andalite technology would stay Andalite and no one else would be allowed to use it again. I fear the day will soon come in which I will break this law to protect my people. But not the same people who keep it.

Shortly after the Yeerks expanded their empire, the war began. The war between the Yeerks and the Andalites. The Yeerks would search for inhabited world and seek to control them; the Andalites would try, where they could, to stop them. But space is large and who knows to how many planets the Yeerks have been and how many races they've taken. I, Elfangor, was part of this war. I fought in it, made some mistakes, did things I'm not proud of. The biggest mistake I made was allowing one of my own people to become enslaved to the Yeerks. It was my greatest embarrassment. Most told me it was not my fault, that I did all I could to save him, yet nothing helped. I was the one who let that filth enter his ear, who let him take over his body and mind, making him prisoner forever. Soon after this, I went home on leave. I had been awarded the rank of Prince for my efforts in battle; but I did not think I earned it. At home, I found I now had a little brother. Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil. He was the only thing that brought me joy anymore. My parents pushed me to rejoin the army, thinking using my newfound rank of Prince would lift my spirits, but they didn't understand that it was the army, the war, which was making me depressed. I was a warrior, not a scientist, I had nothing to do on my home world, and yet I could not return to the war. I would not add to the nightmares that plagued me at night, but Aximili helped me deal with it. He was young, he didn't know war, and he didn't look at his brother with pity, reverence or even contempt. All he saw was his older brother, and when people told him he was a hero, he would say Of course he is. He's my older brother. He came home crying once and said that people had told him horrible things about me and what I did. I could not say anything to him and it took a long time for my parents to calm him down and tell him that those people were lying, but still I could not face him for the rest of the day. I did not want him to see through my parents lies by the pain on my face and in my eyes. At night, my parents told me he'd been begging to see me for hours and wouldn't go to sleep until I did, so I finally relented. He still had tears in his eyes, he was still sad.

Why would people say such mean things about you, Elfangor?

Because they don't understand. I told him. He still was confused, but I would say no more.

You'll always be my hero, Elfangor.

And you'll always be my brother, Aximili.

I said goodnight to him and left.

It was a few months later that he was accepted into the army as an _aristh_ , a cadet. It was now that my parents pushed me to rejoin the army. Who would protect their son if not his older brother? And here, I agreed with them. I would need to protect him. And not only from being injured, but from being hurt the way I had. To have the war change him into me. Or something worse. I would be there not to fight, but to protect and I was welcomed with open arms back into the army. My rank of Prince granting me respect and command. I kept Aximili away from the worst of things, keeping him slightly by the sidelines. I could see he resented it, wanting the chance to become a great hero like his brother. Yet I could not help but protect him.

And then one day he did the unthinkable: he disobeyed orders. My own brother. I had told him to stay where it was safe and he hadn't. However, in doing so, he had made our mission a success. More than a success, it had been one of the most rewarding and fulfilling missions I'd ever been on. I had no doubt that he deserved to be rewarded for this, yet I could not help wanting him to be punished. At least that way he wouldn't get into trouble. However, officers above my rank agreed with my first line of thinking and decided to promote him and, before I knew it, he was no longer under my command, no longer under my protection. And then, with nothing more to give me purpose, I again became depressed and tired. I wanted no more of this. No more! It just so happened, one of my missions brought me within a few weeks of Earth. I had been in this area of space before. A few years back two humans had been captured by some Skrit Na along with some valuable cargo. My crew and I, at the time, had been charged with retrieving that cargo and although there had been some complications along the way and I ended up growing close with one of the humans. Loren. That was her name. Loren. She'd been there when I had let the Abomination be created, when I let one of my own people be taken. I had managed to take her home, though she wanted to stay. It had been hard to say goodbye. I'd thought about her a lot over the past few years, I missed her. There was something about her, something about humans, which drew me to her. She was so different than anything I'd ever known, yet never had I felt so close to anyone than during the time we'd spent together. And never did I feel as drawn to her as I did now. The weight of battle was hanging on me again and I felt lost. And here she was. Earth was barely a week away. So close. If only I could reach her. Thankfully I was on a solo mission, I flew my ship alone. I spent one night thinking over my options. Then I decided. I could not bear this any longer. I would leave it all behind. I completed my mission and sent the report back to base, then set my plan into motion. My ship crashed into an asteroid and was lost. By this time, I was already on my way to earth. There will never be a going back, I thought. And I was gone.


	2. Becoming Human

I landed in an abandoned stretch of woods, hid and cloaked my ship. No human would ever find it. I had looked up Loren on my ship's interface and knew where to find her. I managed to come into contact with a few humans and perform the _Frolis Maneuver,_ combining the DNA of different humans to create a human body for myself. It was strange being in a new body and I missed my stalk eyes and tail. There was one advantage to being human that almost compensated the loss. I had gained this new sense. Taste! Oh what a wonder it was, that lone took a few days getting used to. I had lost control a few times, but being a warrior, and determined to keep my cover, I resolved to keep my reactions to a minimum. When I deemed myself passable as a regular human, I decided to find her. I used the computer on my ship, hacking this thing called the Web, to find Loren's housing address.

It was late when I came to her house. She opened the door and I smiled. After a few weeks practicing to be human, smiling with my mouth was normal, not just reflexive. And boy did I have reason to smile. She was as beautiful as ever.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

Yes Loren. I replied in thought-speech. You can help me.

She gasped softly. "Elfangor!"

I smiled that she recognized my "voice." Then again, how many people could speak to her mind? I was mostly glad she remembered me. I wasn't certain she would. "Yes, Loren. Can I ask you to come with me?" I desperately hoped she wasn't involved with someone else, that she'd gone on with her life when I so badly wanted to be a part of it.

"Of course." She replied. I tried to keep my sigh of relief quiet.

I turned to lead the way and onto my face broke out the biggest smile I could handle. My single human heart began to beat faster as I led the way through the forest to my spaceship. She followed me inside. I took off some of my outer clothing and demorphed into my regular shape, while she stood watching. She'd seen morphing before, it wasn't new to her. When I finished there was a pause, then she ran to me and gave me a hug. My arms wrapped around her as well. I liked the warmth of her near me. Her hair was so soft. And she smelled so good. I had missed her. Missed her a lot.

She broke away and looked into my eyes.

"It really is you." She said.

You didn't believe me? I asked.

"No I just like seeing you in your natural form." Without my human mouth, I simply felt the contentment her statement gave me, as she laid her head back on my chest. I understood what she had said. She knew it was me, but now she could actually see me. The real me. When she broke away this time, she looked up into my face and stared into my eyes. I stared back into hers. She was so beautiful.

"Oh, Elfangor." She said as she stroked the side of my face with a hand. "I'm so sorry."

What do you mean? I asked.

"You look older." She replied.

So do you. I said, half laughing. A few years had passed since we'd seen each other. She looked different now.

"No. It's different. Your eyes. They're much older than they should be. You've seen so much."

You know what I've seen. I said, looking down. Though I was happy she knew my secret, so at least someone knew, I was ashamed.

She put her hand on my cheek and raised my head gently. "Yes Elfangor. I do know." And I see no anger or pity in her eyes, only respect and caring. "But things must've happened after I left. Things you didn't want to see. Tell me. Let me take some of the weight off your shoulders." I didn't know what it was about her that made me want to tell her everything. From beginning to end. Whatever it was, I wanted to listen to it, so she sat down and I did. I told her of how I felt after she left. Of going home. Of my brother, she smiled at that. I told her of trying to protect Aximili in the military and of failing and finally I told her of my decision to come here.

I've thought about you a lot since you left. I said. I want to tell her how I feel about her. How I haven't stopped thinking about her. She stands up and comes close to me.

"Me too." She looks down and laughs, bashful. "I waited for you for a while. I thought that maybe you'd come back for me."

Then you gave up on me? I asked, half-joking.

"No." She said. "Never. I simply figured you had duties to attend to with your own people, things to do on your world. And you did. But I never stopped hoping. And now you're here." She put her hand on my cheek again. It felt very nice. I took hers in both of mine and held it there.

"Did you just come to visit?" She asked me. "When will you be leaving?" I shook my head. A human thing, I felt very human in this moment.

I won't be leaving, Loren. I'm staying.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

I decided this when I came here. I'm tired Loren. Tired of the fighting, the war. I want no part of it at all. I'm sick of it. I tried to protect my brother from it, but I couldn't. As I speak I morph. My last morph ever. This is something none of my people would ever intentionally do. But I'm not the rest of my people. And now I will never be again. I have left them all behind. I have a mouth now, so I speak out loud instead of thought-speech.

"I left it all behind. My people think I'm dead. I died a hero. Who knows what they'll name after me. And I don't care. I didn't come here for a visit Loren. Or to hide, or to say I'm sorry. I came here to stay." I paused. "With you. If you want. I came so I don't have to face it all anymore, so I can be free of it. And I know that makes me a coward and if you don't want me then-" Loren jumped up and all of a sudden she was holding me tight.

"You're not a coward." She whispered in my ear. "You're a hero, and you're brave. You have seen so much, you deserve to be happy. I want you to be happy." Then she raised her head and looked me in the eyes. "How could you think I wouldn't want you? You're everything I ever dreamed of having." She then reached forward and put her lips against mine. I'd heard about kissing before, I'd even seen humans do it a couple of times in the weeks I'd been here, but I'd had no idea it felt like this. Her lips felt so soft against mine, I shuddered with happiness. Somehow, I knew what to do. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer to me. Her arms wound around my neck and her fingers ran through my hair. I love you. I wanted to tell her. She pulled away and looked into my eyes.

"I love you, too." She said. I smiled. It was like she'd read my mind. I kissed her again.

Even though I'd only been with her a short while, I knew my love was true. I'd never met anyone like her in the entire galaxy. And I knew I never would. If I was going to spend my life on Earth, I'd spend it with her. She put her head on my chest and I held her close. I sat down with her and said,

"Loren, I didn't just change into this form to kiss you." I shifted in my seat a little, uncomfortable with what I was about to say. "When I decided to come here, it was a decision to leave everything I knew behind. Even my people. To stay here with you I'm going to-" I broke off. Somehow saying it out loud made it seem more horrible. This was a betrayal, no matter how you sliced it, but it could be forgiven if done for the right reasons. I only hoped one day someone could think the way I did and decide that it was alright. For now, I had Loren to do that for me. Loren's eyes opened wide as she realized what I was doing. Tears filled my eyes and I looked down.

"Oh, Elfangor." She said. "I'll stay with you. Don't worry, I'll stay with you." The tears slipped down my cheeks as she reached to comfort me, to hold me instead. I was happy she was there, I needed her. I told her so through my tears. She sat with me the whole two hours keeping me from changing my mind. When it was done we left the spaceship together.

I took the human name Alan Fangor. Only when we were alone did Loren call me Elfangor. After several months of living together, I asked her to marry me. She accepted and it seemed like I would finally be able to live a life of peace.

However, as was usual for me, it didn't last forever. It took a while, but the day would come in which my past would come back to haunt me.


	3. When the Yeerks Came

**A/N: Sorry about the delay. School recently started and there was a lot to do, I was very busy. But I'm making up for it now. Three chapters coming your way. Enjoy. R &R.**

Fifteen years later

I have detected something on the scanners. A lot of somethings. Landing all over Earth. I left the room and close the door to the monitor room. Tobias was in bed, sleeping. I went to the kitchen and told Loren,

"We have a problem." She came with me to see and tears began to fill her eyes. By the shape of the spaceships we saw our doom. Bug fighters. Yeerk landing ships. I'd had no idea; I hadn't thought of this, I thought we'd be safe here, on this faraway, unknown planet called Earth. I should've known better.

"They're here?" Loren asks. I pulled her close to me so she could cry on my chest. "What'll we do, Elfangor?"

"We'll be patient." I told her. "We can't go guns blazing with this one. We don't know what their plan is yet." I made her look me in the eye. "Loren. We're prepared for this. We won't let them hurt us."

Weeks later, Loren came home with the final proof. "It's undoubtedly true. The Sharing is a front for the Yeerks."

I put my head in my hands. "The Yeerks are cleverer than I thought. Using the human desire to belong to enslave people. They'll flock to them like sheep." Loren came up behind me and rubbed my back. I reached behind me to put my arm around her waist.

"It'll be okay. We'll do something." She said.

"How?" I asked. "We have no way to fight them!"

"Yes we do. We can use the-"

"No! Loren, no!" I interrupted her, standing up suddenly. "We've talked about this. No!"

"We haven't talked about this Elfangor! I bring it up and you tell me no. You can't just keep ignoring this. It's a perfectly good option that we can use. You're the one who wants to fight, so let me fight!"

I walked away from the table, exasperated. "No Loren. Not that way."

"This is because of you, isn't it?" She yelled at my back. "You can't fight so you don't want me to?"

I turned back so she could see the fury on my face. All of a sudden, the expressions on her face changed and she reached out to me. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.

I'm going to pick up Tobias. I told her and walked out the door.

Driving to Tobias's school I calmed down. Maybe it's because I thought about it more and realized she may be right. I realized how scared I was of her fighting alone, not having me there to protect her.

"Hey, Dad." Tobias said, waving goodbye to his friends as he entered the car. Driving him home from school, he told me about his day. I quietly listened to the drama in my son's life while still thinking about my argument with Loren. When we got home, Loren and I pretended everything was alright. Only when we said goodnight to him, did things change. Every night, since his childhood I'd tell him a story. Always from my own people. I told him about our ancestors and our growth across time. I told him about the heroes of my people. One night I even told him of the _Escafil device,_ that which gives Andalites the power to morph, and of those who used its. He seemed to like that. They'd been superheroes to him and he even made up stories about them. No longer though. One night, about a year ago, Tobias told me he was getting too old for these stories. I was slightly taken aback, but understood. He felt he was growing too old for fairy tales. Tonight, after slightly avoiding each other, I wait in bed for Loren to join me. She soon did, stepping into the room cautiously and closing the door. She came close to the bed where she joined me, curling up to my side.

"I'm sorry." She said again.

I pulled her close, as she rested her head on my shoulder. "No. You're right. I shouldn't keep it away from you like that."

"It's okay. You were just trying to protect me. We both know possible consequences of using it."

I shook my head. "But you were right in saying I was selfish. I am. I was a little resentful that you would have this power that I could never use. That I gave up. It's hard sometimes. I still miss my tail." I lifted her chin so she could look me in the eye. "I know it means a lot to you and you're right. We have to fight the Yeerks and the _Escafil Device_ is the best way. There always is danger when fighting the Yeerks; we might as well have an advantage."

The next day, after Tobias went to school, I unlocked the drawer in the hidden monitor room and took out the blue box held within, while Loren placed her hand on it with mine. I wasn't sure if it would work when in this form, but I knew the DNA was still there. I hoped that touching the box would restore my power, but no such luck. I felt no tingling in my hand or fingers indicating I had just gained incredible power. That went to Loren who gasped as the _Escafil device_ reacted to her touch. And now, it was time to collect some morphs. Time to begin, once again, the life of an Andalite warrior.

Loren drove a few hours out of town to a rescue shelter for animals. There were a few exotic ones that she found including a northern harrier, a wolf and a leopard. The leopard was her favored weapon, lightning fast, agile and dangerous. Her first mission went well. So did her second. The third as well. It didn't get easier each time, like you'd expect. I kept worrying about whether it would be this time that she'd fail. Or the next. Her missions were only sabotage. No fighting. Being only one person, it was too risky. Also this way, they wouldn't know how many of us there were. It was also good that I was the one with a job, which gave her time for this.

A few months into her frequent sabotage, Loren is adapting well to morphing. She'd acquired many by now and we'd done some damage to the Yeerks. We'd identified many entrances to the Yeerk pool, which unfortunately stretched far beneath the city. We hadn't penetrated yet, we'd need more firepower for that and I wouldn't risk it, but besides for that, things seemed to be going well. One of the things I appreciated about being in human morph was that I retained the ability of thought-speech. I could communicate with Loren on her missions and give her advice if needed. I had learned that Visser Three, the Abomination was in charge of the invasion of earth and sometimes appeared. On my scanners, I frequently searched for anything Andalite. He would appear and most of the time I would send Loren to investigate. Many times she'd been able to disrupt his plans and I was proud of her.

One night on a mission, I was in the hidden room, monitoring her mission, when something appeared on the screen. Over the time she'd been fighting we'd been able to stretch the limits of thought-speech so with a little brainpower, she'd here me, even far away as she was.

Loren, there's something incoming. Watch out, I'm not sure what it is.

I'm in the bushes, they can't see me, I'll just watch until- oh my god!

Her voice sounded frightened. What? What is it?

It's the Blade Ship. HIS ship. I knew exactly who she was talking about and my blood ran cold. Really cold. I hadn't felt fear like this for fifteen years. I hated her being there alone, being unable to do anything to help her.

Get out of there, Loren. I said. Now. He's too dangerous.

I can't. She replies. He has Hork-Bajir. If I move, they'll notice me. You know how paranoid he is. I got noticed on a few missions. He won't trust that it's just an animal. I shivered in my chair. I couldn't let him hurt her, besides he was MY responsibility, MINE.

Remember that device we made, Elfangor? Loren asked, sounding sly.

Which one? You don't mean-

Yeah, I do.

How do you have that? I thought I locked that in the safe!

Still using "Tobias" as a password?

How did you-

I know you Elfangor.

You brought it with you?

Yeah, didn't know if I'd need it. I have this bag I bring sometimes. It's on the grass now.

You're keeping that IN A BAG ON THE GRASS?!

Loren laughed. Elfangor, it's one of those special, whatever bags you showed me in the monitor room. It needs voice recognition to open it. It's safe. I breathed a little. But Elfangor? She continued. I want to use it.

Use it? I asked. On what?

The Blade Ship.

I gasped. Loren no. It's too dangerous. This is way beyond anything we've discussed.

Elfangor, we may never get a chance like this again. They'll probably be leaving the ship soon. When they do, I will sneak in and attach it to the console.

They'll leave some behind.

I'll take care of them. I have some experience fighting and this body has more.

Loren, you can't they'll-

Elfangor, what would you do if you were me? If you were in this situation and had this opportunity, would you give it up?

I sighed and put my head in my hands. You're right. I just don't-

I know, dear. I'll be fine. Just keep watching.

Tapping into satellites, I could track heat signatures near Loren. Sure enough the Blade Ship landed, and bodies stepped out. I heard Loren gasp.

I can see him, Elfangor. My body clenched and I wished to be with her, if only to comfort her from that monster. He feels so...wrong I sent her a feeling of comfort with which to hold on to. The bodies leave and I told Loren to wait until they're far away for her to go. I gave her the signal and she was off. I couldn't really see her but I knew she was fighting. And fighting well. I only hoped she'd be okay.


	4. Loren

Loren's POV:

I tore across the open space to the ship standing in the middle. The two Hork-Bajir standing guard didn't hear me coming. I lunged ripping one of their throats out. I felt bad; he didn't really have a chance against me. I was no sooner done with that one when the second one came charging. It swiped at me and I lazily slinked out of the way. So slow! I think to myself. This creature thinks he can defeat me? Ha! I jumped to the right and bit his side. He fell and I went for the neck. Hearing the sound of dying Hork-Bajir outside, the door of the ship opened and another Hork-Bajir stepped out. I was well finished with the ones outside by this point and now threw myself at the new one at the door. I caught him in the neck and we tumbled into the room. Looking around I became frightened. There were much more inside than I thought there'd be and my over-confidence was starting to become my downfall. I guessed, being the Visser's ship, it has more security. No need to frighten Elfangor, I thought. I'll deal with this.

They were no match for me. I bared my teeth and charged. There were about six Hork-Bajir and four Taxxons. I went for a Taxxon first, ripping out his gut. The other three charged him and began devouring their brother. That should keep them busy, I thought. The other Hork-Bajir closed in and I began my attack. I ripped off an arm here, dodged a blade there, I'd never felt this alive. The leopard's speed and agility were unmatched. Yet I couldn't avoid all blows. I already had a few cuts on my back and one Hork-Bajir got a lucky swipe at my stomach as I jumped. The Taxxons as well, done with their meal came to join the fight. They mostly got in the way, which was good, but I cut them down anyway. I was getting tired though. I needed to place the bomb; Elfangor would think something is wrong; I should've been out by now. I leapt away from the Hork-Bajir to a room and blocked the door. Even though it was weird to push things with paws, this body gave me huge strength. I figured the Hork-Bajir would try to communicate with the Visser, so I needed to hurry. I morphed back to human and picked up the bag I'd tied to my leg. I opened it and took out the black circular object hidden inside. I placed it against the wall and morphed back to the mighty leopard, ready to step out. The Hork-Bajir were already getting through. I made it easier for them and as soon as the first Hork-Bajir appeared, I was on him, slashing and biting almost…lazily. He went down and I pushed past him into the main room. I could see on the screen that more people were coming. The Visser was obviously with them. I needed to leave. Now. The trigger was on my front paw. It had a ten second delay. More Hork-Bajir arrived. The Visser must've pushed them. I needed to get outside. As I fought my way to the door, I found myself starting to struggle and then I heard a beep. Almost music to my enhanced ears. The trigger must've been pushed. The bomb was a black circular object with chemicals inside, it had a strong adhesive at the back, which stuck incredibly well to objects. The Hork-Bajir wouldn't be able to get it off without setting it off. They must have tried and I now had ten seconds. Ten. Nine. I began counting as I got closer and closer to my exit. Five. Four. I was out. Hork-Bajir coming after me. Two. One.

The force of the blast threw me into the air. Ah! Pain in my side. As the flames licked the exposed flesh of my injuries and blood-soaked fur. I landed and my legs crumpled beneath me. One leg was broken. I gasped with the pain. I struggled to get up and looked back. The Blade Ship was gone. So were most of the Hork-Bajir, but wasn't over yet. There were survivors and I began running. Dragging my broken leg behind me. I was full of scratches and bleeding. The cut on my stomach had opened and it hurt. But I didn't stop.

Loren! I heard. Are you okay?

Elfangor's voice helped me keep going. I'm fine. I need to get under cover to demorph. I'll morph to bird then come home.

Be safe.

I will. I was running slower and slower and my vision was getting fuzzy. I smelled blood and looked down. I was leaving a clear trail for them to follow. I needed to get to a river. I sniffed the air and followed the scent until I heard the flowing of water. The pain in my side was sharper than ever. I looked at the rushing water and shuddered. I have to go in there, I think. I gathered my courage and hurled myself into the water. It was freezing. I let the water carry me for a while, but then I tried to aim for the bank. There was a piece of land that jutted out into the river. I tried for that. I missed. I was spinning out of control. I saw a branch. I grabbed it. I could hold on. With my claws I climbed until I got to the top of the tree hanging over the river. I jumped down. However, with one leg already broken I fell badly, on the other leg. I needed to demorph. I had no idea how much time had passed but I concentrated as hard as I could on my body. As the morph started I see what was causing the pain in my side. A piece of metal. It'd lodged itself in my side when the ship exploded. It was a big piece of metal. It would stay in my side even after I was human. I would need to complete the morph to human then change into something smaller than myself. But I was already tired and with the blood loss I'd sustained my head was spinning, my vision foggy. I didn't know if I had the strength for one morph, let alone two consecutive ones. I gasped and tried to breathe normally. I reached out to Elfangor.

Elfangor, can you hear me?

Yes, Loren. You're closer now. Have you morphed to bird yet?

Elfangor, I'm hurt.

So just morph out. You'll be fine. You know how it works.

I know, honey, but it's more than that. There's a piece of metal from the ship in my side. Being human won't take it out. I don't have time for three morphs.

What are you saying?

I'm stuck Elfangor. I can't get out of this one.

I'll come get you.

No. There's no time. They'll be looking for me. They can't be allowed to find you. I could feel him crying and it broke my heart.

What about Tobias? I cried too now, I continued the morph but slowly, I wanted to hold on.

Take care of him Elfangor. You're all he has now.

Loren, no! You can't! I need you!

I looked up at the inky black sky, dotted with stars. I wondered which one was Elfangor's. I love you. I told him. Then I searched for Tobias' mind. He wasn't far from Elfangor.

I love you, my baby. I told him as he slept. I will always watch over you. I finished the morph to human. I reached down and pulled with all my might at the metal in my side. The morph loosened it, it came up easily. I threw it in the river. This way the Yeerks might not know it was me. I blessed their blindness in thinking only Andalites could morph. It was harder to breathe as the blood flowed more smoothly now, unstopped from me taking out the metal. I breathed in and out. In and out. I thought of the two most important people in my life. Tobias' warm face was the last thing I saw before I faded.


	5. The Hero's Cowardice

Elfangor's POV:

I noticed a change in the scanner. One of the heat signatures was moving away from everybody else. Loren, I thought, it must be her and I needed to find out if she was okay. Thank the stars she was. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw her change direction. She came to a river. I nodded. I had married a smart human. So they can't track her. She was out of the river now and I heard her again. Why hadn't she demorphed yet? Or had she remorphed that quickly? As she gasped, I heard pain in her voice and my heart skipped a beat. She was hurt. But that could be fixed by demorphing. I heard her explain the situation. Metal. In her side. As the tears came to my eyes, I realized she wouldn't get help in time. I tried to reassure her but I was failing to reassure even myself. I begged her to stay with me. I cried as she breathed her last breathes. The tears fell from my face onto the keyboard. This was why I didn't want her to fight! I hadn't wanted this to happen! I hacked a satellite to get a picture of the scene and I saw her lying on the ground in human form. Blood all over her. The metal was gone. It looked like it was a possible animal attack. I needed to gather my thoughts, plan what to do next, look away, but she looked so beautiful. I kept the camera on her face. Her beautiful clean face. It looked like she was sleeping. A few minutes later, the Yeerks came searching through the area. They took one look at her and passed on. Leaving her to the animals in the area. I couldn't watch anymore. I couldn't bear to see the corpse of my beloved wife, the woman I had crossed stars to be with. I had come here looking for comfort and safety and love. Loren had been the one I'd looked to. In all my life, I had never met anyone like her. She understood me like no one else could. How could she be gone? The tears poured down my face as I realized I would have to live the rest of my life without her. My body rejected the idea, and I felt sick. My breathing became increasingly irregular as my mind refused to accept the truth. This wasn't supposed to have happened! I should've grown old with her. I should've held her hand as she died after decades of being together, loving each other. I had no idea how long I stayed like that, my head in my arms, on the console of my desk. Heard movement in the house, I raised my head to listen.

"Mom? Dad?"

 _Tobias,_ I thought. _Go back to bed_ , I wanted to tell him. I couldn't face him. After a bit more wandering, he went back to his room. I put my head back down in my hands and cried, harder than I ever had before. Harder than I thought possible. I spent the night in that chair, not moving until the sun came up. After what felt like an eternity, I stood up, wiped my eyes and went to check on Tobias. He was still sleeping. He looked so peaceful; I turned off his alarm, letting him sleep and proceeded to call his school and tell them how he wouldn't be coming in today. I didn't tell them why. I couldn't. Tobias would be the first to know. I let him sleep now though. I wasn't surprised when he came down at 12:00. He was a teenager after all. I waited for him in the kitchen and eventually he came in yawning. He noticed the time and freaked out, thinking he needed to get to school.

"Why didn't you wake me?" He asked, turning to go back upstairs.

"You're not going to school today, Tobias." I said, calmly.

He turned from the stairs to face me. "Why not?"

I gestured to the chair next to me. "Sit down, Tobias." He did, confused. "It's your mother, son."

"What about her? Is she alright?" Tears came to my eyes and I couldn't go on.

"Dad?" He asked, putting a hand on mine. "What's wrong with Mom?"

"She did her job, Tobias. And she was brave. She didn't give up." I stared at a crack in the table, trying to gather my thoughts, trying to stay calm for my son sitting facing me.

"Dad, you're scaring me. What happened?"

"It's a long story, Tobias. One I'm not sure you'll even believe."

"Just tell me, Dad."

I sighed, knowing there'd be no way to get around this. "Remember those stories I told you when you were younger?"

He cocked his head in curiosity. "Yeah, but what do they have to do with this? They were just stories."

I shook my head. "Those were never just stories, Tobias. All of them really happened."

Tobias laughed. "Come on, Dad. How can any of them be true? They were about blue centaurs from space."

I faced my son and spoke to him calmly and seriously. "What if I told you they were really an alien race named Andalites?"

"I would say, 'nice try, Dad.' It'll take more than that to fool me; I'm not a kid anymore. Now tell me what happened to Mom."

I ran my hands through my hair, like she used to. I felt her presence in that room, helping me, giving me strength. I stood up from the table, and said, "Come with me, Tobias." Confused, but willing to follow, I led him to the hallway where I touched the frame of a mirror on the wall, opening the door to the hidden monitor room.

"Woah." Tobias said. I could tell he was surprised by all the advanced technology he saw there, but ignoring all that, I took a holographic image off the wall and handed it to him. It was a picture of my family and I before Aximili joined the military.

His eyes opened I wonder as he stared at the image. "How did you get all this?" he asked.

"I brought it with me."

"From where?"

I sighed. I would have to tell him outright. "From my homeworld, Tobias. I am an Andalite."

He laughed again. "Um… what? That's going a bit too far, Dad. You're a human, just like everyone else on this planet." Then, he caught sight of my face, and added, "…right?"

"Remember I told you of the _Escafil device_ and what it does?"

"Yeah. But that was just a story."

"Nothing I told you was just a story, Tobias."

"But Dad, I still don't—

We walked out of the room, back to the kitchen to sit down. "I'll explain everything. And at the end I think you'll understand all you want to know."

In all the times I'd told him of the Andalites, I'd never told him about the Yeerks. I did now. I told him of the law of _Seerow's Kindness_ and why it was made. I spoke of the war, leaving out as much as I could; only telling him the essentials, the things he needed to hear. Then I spoke of a warrior, a warrior named Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. His eyes narrowed slightly at the name that sounded so similar to mine. I told the story of this warrior, how growing tired of the war and the killing, came to Earth to marry the woman he loved. Her name was Loren.

"So that was you?" Tobias asked, almost unwilling to believe it. He still had a smile on his face, but it had faded slightly, and now looked forced. I could almost see the thoughts running through his head. He had just been told that aliens existed, that his father was one of them. He was starting to believe that maybe the stories I had told him when he was a kid were true after all. That was enough to shock anyone. I would proceed as carefully as possible.

I nodded. "Yes, Tobias. I came to Earth for respite from the war. I was sick of it, the pain, the fighting. I married your mother and made a life here. We had you."

"What happened then? What happened to Mom?" I knew whether he believed me about the aliens or not, he knew something had happened to his mother and wanted answers. I almost didn't want to tell him. He was still a boy! He shouldn't be an orphan. But his mother was gone, and she wasn't coming back. I would have to tell him the truth.

I took a deep breath and continued. "I thought we'd be safe here. The galaxy is big and I didn't think the Yeerks would find this planet. But they did and then I knew they wouldn't stay away. For years they'd been looking for a species like this to use as hosts. There was no way to stop them coming, only a way of fighting back."

"Is that what happened to Mom then? Did she get…infested?" He tripped over the word like he didn't want to say it and I understood exactly how he felt. The concept of a Yeerk controlling your body weirded me out as well, when I was a youngling, back when I joined the fight against the traitorous scum of the galaxy.

"No, Tobias. Not that. She fought. Valiantly, until the end. She was no coward she was no Yeerk. I…gave her the morphing power. She used it to fight the Yeerks. She fought so bravely and so well—" I could no longer continue over the lump in my throat, and my eyes prickled with the effort of holding back tears. I could only manage a whisper. "She fought with everything she had. She fell saving the world."

Tobias' eyes now filled with tears, but like me, he did not let them fall. "What're you saying, Dad?"

"Your mother is gone, Tobias." He pushed his chair away from the table and stood up slowly, his face pale and expressionless.

"No. She's not. It can't be."

"Son. Why were you awake at two o'clock in the morning?"

He started. "I thought that just part of my dream. How did you know I was up?"

"Just tell me, Tobias."

He narrowed his eyes at me, but said. "I dreamt of Mom. She said she loved me and she'd always be there for me. Then I felt her fading away. I woke up, scared. I went looking for you and Mom but you weren't there. I thought it was a dream and went back to bed."

"I'm sorry, Tobias."

His worried expression got angry. "You knew? You knew I was there and you did nothing?!"

"Tobias, I-"

"I was scared, Dad! I was flipping out! I thought you were gone and Mom was in danger and-"

"I know, Tobias! I'm sorry. I'm ashamed at what I did! I just didn't want to leave the room when she wasn't there. I heard you and I didn't go to you. I've been a coward ever since I left my people. I don't deserve you or any of this. They call me a hero but I'm not, I'm as far from a hero as possible. They should take everything from me. It should've been me!" I cried and put my head in hands. Loren! I cried out to her, though she wasn't there to hear. I need you! Sitting down in the chair near the computer, I heard Tobias come close and felt him put his arms around me.

"You're not a coward, Dad. You're the bravest man I know. And nobody what anybody else says, you're my hero." The words reminded me of the brother I left behind and the tears began anew. I lifted my head to look into my son's eyes and I saw genuine pride there, which comforted me slightly. There was wonder there as well.

"Are you really an Andalite?" He asked. I smiled. A full smile that filled me with warmth.

I picked up the hologram image he'd put down and put it back in his hands. I pointed to me in the image. "That's me." I pointed to Aximili. "That's my brother Aximili and my parents."

The wonder filled his eyes again. Then a strange expression crosses his face. "But Dad, when you told me about the morphing power, you said there was a time limit—

"There is. I came here to leave the war, to leave my people. I couldn't live here properly as an Andalite."

"So when you became human…"

"It was forever." I came and stood next to him to look at the photograph. He looked up at me.

"I don't know about you, Dad, but if I had a tail like that, I wouldn't give it up."

I laughed and put an arm around his shoulders. I sighed. Laughing reminded me of Loren and suddenly realizing how sad I actually was, my shoulder's slumped a little.

"Dad." I looked down at him. "What exactly happened to Mom?" I look up into his worried face and take him by the shoulders.

"She fought the Yeerks, my son. She fought them. In the greatest way possible. She even destroyed their leader's ship. And then she fell."

"How did you know?"

I gestured to my head. "Remember when I told you of the _Escafil device_ and what it does? It also allows you to use thought-speech. We were able to communicate and she told me what was happening."

"So when I heard Mom's voice-"

"That was really her." Tobias' face fell. I stood up and gave him a hug. He seemed to need it as much as I did. I spent the rest of the day telling him about my life, the details, my family, my brother, and mostly, what Loren and I had done. I was close to tears again, but I was not mourning anymore. With my son next to me, I thought back on her lovingly instead. Of all the great times we'd had and how much I'd loved her, and love her still.

That night I drove to where I knew she rested near the riverbank. I saw something on the ground and got out of the car. I ran toward it and collapsed beside her as I approached. I looked down on her serene face and the tears that had stopped came again. Tears fell as I reached down and held her stiff body, feeling a mixture of pain, anguish, sorrow, and most of all, anger. I sobbed against her chest not letting go. Finally I gathered the strength to pick her up and carry her to the car. I laid her across the back seat. I brought her home and put her in an area I'd set up in the monitor room. Tobias tried to come in, but I couldn't let him see. He didn't know for sure that she was dead; I didn't want the image of her corpse to be in his mind.

"Is that Mom?"

"Tobias, stay out of the room."

"But, Dad is that Mom?"

"Tobias, don't go in there."

"I want to see her."

I started to cry again. No. He couldn't see her. My breathing became haggard again and I held up my hands. "No Tobias, you can't." He could see I was very distressed about this.

"Ok, Dad. I won't. It's okay. I won't." He came close to give me a hug and I squeezed him back.

The next day I arranged for a funeral. I didn't do a lot of planning. I didn't need it. It's not what she would've wanted. She died a hero and deserved to be sent off like one. A few days later, we held the ceremony; all the people she knew coming to pay their respects. On my own, whispering to Tobias, I gave her the traditional parting ritual of my people. He cried as he heard the words. I found tears on my face as well.

"I want to fight." Tobias told me after the ceremony.

"No." I replied.

"Why not, Dad? Mom did."

"Yes and that's why you're not going to." I spoke calmly so he wouldn't detect my fear.

"Dad, Mom was right. We can't just sit back and let this happen. We have to do something."

Suddenly, I couldn't control myself and my voice got much louder. "Don't you see Tobias? I tried that! And it didn't work. I lost her; I'm not going to lose you too!"

"She didn't have anybody to help her, Dad. I will." He tried to persuade me. "Remember when Mom saved me? I had friends with me that day. They know."

My eyes grew wide. "They know?!"

He rolled his eyes. "No. Not "know" know but it wouldn't be hard to fill in the gaps. Dad we could form a team, you could teach us. We can really do some damage instead of just winging it solo."

"Tobias no. And that's all we'll be speaking about it." He walked off, obviously upset. I didn't mind. As long as he wasn't in danger. He was all I had left. I could tell Tobias was upset with me when we got home. The house seemed oddly empty and silent, full of sadness. Loren wasn't here anymore. The silence almost killed me. After he went to sleep, I went to the monitor and looked at the video feeds above the earth. I saw all the spaceships there and it hit me. MY spaceship! It was still hidden in the forest! I jumped up and began packing a bag. I waited for Tobias to come down the next morning at the kitchen table, my bag on top of it. He came down, ready for school. I told him to sit down; he wouldn't be going to school today either.

"Again?" He asked.

I nodded. "Pack a bag, we're leaving."

"Where?" He asked. He still sounded upset about the day before.

"Far away. Very far away"

He put his school bag down on the table. "You can't just run away from the Yeerks, Dad. I thought you said they're all over the planet."

"Exactly. That's why we'll be leaving it."

His jaw dropped. "You mean go into -?

"I have an Andalite warrior grade spaceship, Tobias. The one I came here in. I should've taken you and your mother and ran, the moment the Yeerks showed up, and now your mother's gone. So I'm taking you and we're going."

Tobias picked up his school bag again and shook his head. "I'm not going, Dad."

"What do you mean you're not going?"

"I mean I'm not going to go into your little ship and run away like you did before."

I was appalled. He didn't understand. I was trying to save him. "I'm just trying to protect you!" I told him.

"And what about everyone else, huh? Don't they need to be protected?"

I stood up and faced him. "I need to protect YOU. And I can't fight. That was my choice. So now we're leaving."

"Yeah, you made your choice." He said. "Now I'm making mine. I don't know about you, but I'm going to fight. In any way I can." He turned and began walking to the door.

"And what if the same thing happens to you that happened to your mother?!"

He spins back around to face me. "Then I'll have died for the same thing she did! I'll die knowing I did the right thing!"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I found myself yelling at him. "And what about me? I already lost your mother, what do you think will happen if I lose you too?"

"Sometimes it's not all about you, Dad. Sometimes you have to stand and fight instead of running away like a coward." He jabbed his finger at me. "That's what you are, Dad. A coward. I used to think you were a hero. But I guess I was wrong. There's nothing heroic in what you did. You ran then and you want to run now. Well go, if that's what you really want. But you'll have to go without me." He turned back around and left through the front door, leaving me standing there, stunned.

Finally, I sat back down. He'd called me a coward. The one thing I'd always been afraid of being called. And I'd always been reassured by my brother, by Loren and then by my son, that I wasn't one. And now that was all gone. I put my head in my hands. My son had a right to feel that way; he was an honorable young man. But why did he have to be so adamant about fighting? Didn't he see I was only trying to protect him? I went upstairs to his room and began packing a bag for him. I began filling it with clothes and things he might need. His voice echoed in my head. You're a coward. I stopped what I was doing. My body started to shake as I realized what I'm doing. No matter how you sliced it, I was running away. Something I vowed never to do again. Is it his fault that I chose to do this to myself? I thought about if I'd been in his position. If my parents didn't want me to fight a war I thought was my duty to fight. I looked at what I was holding in my hands. It was a picture of the three of us at the park. I thought of that day; that had been the first time Tobias had called me his hero. We'd been feeding the ducks when Tobias had fallen into the pond. He hadn't been able to swim, so I'd jumped in to save him. He'd held me so tightly then, and called me his hero. Loren had looked at me, eyes sparkling. She was so beautiful. I sat down on the floor and cried, once again.

I didn't hear Tobias come in after school. I noticed him as he came up the stairs to his room. I hadn't realized how long I'd been sitting there. He paused in the doorway, before coming in and sitting down beside me and I could see he didn't know what to say, but that didn't matter, just him being there helped me enough. He put his arm around my neck and leaned his head on my shoulder. I put my arm around his back and pull him onto my lap. He curled up on me, like he used to do when he was little. I rested my cheek on top of his head and cried silently as he held himself to me.

"I'm sorry, Dad." He finally said. "I shouldn't have called you a coward." He looked up at me. "You're the opposite of that; you're a—

I shook my head, cutting him off. "No Tobias. I may not be a coward, but I don't deserve the title of hero. Especially not now. Even if I was just trying to protect you."

"I know, Dad."

"We won't be leaving, son. You're right. It would be wrong to run away, and I won't abandon my people. Not again."

He looked at me. "I thought the Andalites were your people."

"Whether I like it or not, humans are my people now too. As the Andalites are yours. But," I added, "I still won't let you fight. It's too dangerous." Tobias sighed but said nothing. We ate dinner silently that night and he said goodnight to me before going to bed.

He barely spoke to me the next few days. At first I thought he was mourning, but then it seemed like he was really ignoring me. I wondered if anything was wrong. After school one day, I made him sit down at the table and look at me.

"Tobias," I said, "I know you're upset about your mother, but-"

He finally looked at me. "You think that's what this is about? Dad, of course I miss Mom. But I'm not angry at _her_."

I sighed as I realized what he was saying. "You still want to fight." I said.

"Of course I do, Dad. You think I'm supposed to just go to school every day, knowing what's going on, and just be like, 'hey, Earth is being invaded by aliens, what do you wanna do after school?'?"

"Of course not, son. But I don't think sending you to fight is the answer."

"Then what is? There's no one else. No one we can trust. I have a few friends that I know are clean. I was hoping we could create a team. I need to do something, Dad!"

I could see he wouldn't let this go. I put my head in my hands. "I'll think about it son, but for now, you need a normal life." He nodded, satisfied for now and left to do his homework.

 **A/N: I know this is a long chapter. At least longer than the others. I hope to get reviews on this. Watch for Tobias coming next.**


	6. Tobias

My name is Tobias. I am the son of Loren from Earth, and Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul, War Prince of the Andalite race. But I didn't always know that. I thought I'd always thought I was just a normal kid, with a normal family. But one day, things changed.

I was never a loner in school. I had friends, people who liked me. I wasn't bullied or ignored. I wasn't the most popular guy, but I was respected. There was this girl in my class that I liked. Blond, beautiful. Her name was Rachel. She was headstrong and independent, never afraid of a fight. I liked that about her. She had a cousin named Jake, also in our class. He was kind of a bully, which sucked. Rachel said it was because his brother used to bully him; I didn't think that was an excuse. Jake had a friend named Marco. They had been friends in kindergarten, but somewhere before middle school they'd grown apart. It'd started when Jake started bullying kids. Marco was the class clown, always joking, never serious. But he was a good guy. He hadn't stood for Jake's bullying and had stopped hanging out with him since he'd started. Jake still thought they were friends, but they didn't spend much time together anymore. Cassie was Rachel's best friend. Though they spent almost all their time together, they couldn't have been more different. Cassie grew up on a farm, she didn't care how she looked or what she wore; she also had very strong morals. I guess from taking care of animals so much, she found life very sacred. Rachel was very much the stylist, always knew what to wear and how to look, but they were best friends anyway. I wasn't as close with Cassie as I was with Rachel, but we hung out regularly.

One day, I was walking through the mall, looking for people I knew, when I saw someone waving at me. It was Rachel. Yes. I thought. I quickly came over to her.

"Hey. What're you doing here?" I asked. It was rhetorical; it was obvious she was shopping. But her answer surprised me.

"Cassie's back there changing." She said, jerking her thumb towards the changing rooms. "I'm forcing her to upgrade her wardrobe."

I smiled. "You mean poop-stained overalls aren't good enough?"

She punched me lightly on the arm and I laughed. When they were finished shopping we decided to leave the mall together. We passed by the arcade and Cassie cried out,

"Hey isn't that Jake?"

We all looked. It was. He was playing a video game and surprisingly, Marco was with him. He lost as we came over.

"Hey Jake." Rachel said brightly. She was one of the only people I knew who treated him like that. "You want to leave the mall with us?"

"Sure, Cuz." He said. His voice was low and rough. He tried to make himself sound more mature, it didn't really work, but it frightened smaller kids. We didn't say much more now that he'd joined us, simply walked in awkward silence to the exit. I nodded to Marco as he fell in step beside me.

"Hey." I said. "I thought you didn't hang out anymore."

He shrugged. "We don't. Not really. He saw me playing at the arcade and joined me. I try to be nice to him. He doesn't have many friends."

"Kind of his fault." I pointed out.

Marco shrugged again. "I dunno. Still, we used to be friends. I kinda feel bad for him. Besides, I could maybe try to help him."

When we exited the mall, Jake presented the idea of taking a shortcut through the abandoned construction site behind the mall. Our parents had warned us from taking that route; however all of us had done so on many occasions. There was something from Jake's voice that made us hesitate, but Rachel, never one to back down from a challenge said,

"Sure. Why not?" She led the way through the abandoned buildings, not the least bit concerned.

After a few minutes of walking, I heard a noise. It sounded a bit like a snarl from an animal. I stopped, looking around and straining my ears.

"Did you hear that?" I asked. The others stopped as well.

"What?" Rachel, who was standing beside me, asked.

"I thought I heard..." And there it was again. The snarl.

Now everyone began looking around for the source of the sound. Then we heard something new, something I'd never heard before. I had no idea what animal could make a sound like that. We all shivered. Jake took a dash for one of the buildings and said,

"Come on, it came from here." We all looked at each other, uncertain, then reluctantly followed.

"Jake!" Rachel called softly. We found him crouched behind a pile of rock looking out into an open space. What we saw shook is all. It was the strangest thing. There were five people in suits with guns, facing off with a leopard. There were a few dead animals on the ground, but none like I'd ever seen. One of them looked a bit green. I couldn't see far in the fading light, maybe I was imagining it. We watched as the leopard danced around them, seemingly toying with them. I wondered why they wouldn't shoot. They seemed to be talking to it. At this distance I couldn't hear what they were saying. Why were they talking to a leopard? Maybe they were talking to each other. I looked back at my friends for answers, but they were as confused as I was. Jake moved a bit and shifted a few of the rocks. Others began to slide and soon, the whole pile came down. One of the men in the open area pointed to our location. We quickly scrambled away from the rock, trying not to be seen. However, more men appeared behind us and we had to move closer to the open area. We started running, trying to get away. They chased us into the middle and we stopped. We all caught our breath. Rachel, of course, stepped forward.

"Look. We weren't doing anything wrong; we just wanted to take a shortcut."

One man still had his gun pointed at the leopard who was now growling softly. I looked at it. It was very battered. At that moment, I thought I heard my mom's voice.

"Tobias!" She said. I looked around but no one was there. The man with the gun pointed at the leopard said,

"It's okay, kids. This animal got away from the zoo. We'll make sure it doesn't hurt anyone. How about I ask one of my men to take you home?" We glanced at one another, unsure. The leopard growled again and this time my mom's voice was loud and clear.

"Tobias, run! Now!"

"Guys, come on." I said quietly. I began running across the site, away from the men behind us. It seemed they were only concentrated on the other side of the site. I glanced behind me to see my friends following at breakneck speeds. We only stopped once we were back into town. Then we all collapsed, heaving.

"What the hell was that?" Marco asked. None of us knew. After a few minutes of calming down, we each went to our own houses. When I got home, I immediately went searching for my mom. My dad heard me calling and came to see what I wanted.

"Where's Mom?" I asked him.

"She went out." He said curtly. I frowned at his comment, something about it bothered me. But I had homework to do so I went to my room to start. By the time my mom came home, the whole matter was forgotten. That was the first time I'd heard thought-speech.

My father is an Andalite. One of the heroes from my childhood. I loved those stories he used to tell me. Not stories after all, I guess. And my dad, one of them. It seems too good to be true. But...my mom. She's gone. I cried myself to sleep for a month. I could see that my dad was taking it hard as well. It's like a light inside him had been turned off. He began looking very tired all the time. I wished I could've helped him. I thought I knew what would, but he still won't let me fight. Why not? He could teach me. And I wouldn't be alone. I wanted to teach my friends as well. There was a school dance coming up and if I could convince them to come to my house... I just had to convince my dad before then.

He finally said yes. Now. Now was the time. I asked Rachel to come to my house and bring Cassie; she should ask Jake too. I called Marco and although we weren't the closest of friends, I knew he'd be useful. I let Dad explain everything. He came to them in the form of an Andalite. Not his real form, unfortunately. He hadn't regained his power to morph, it was just a hologram. It still looked impressive though, and he still used thought-speech. He told them of the Yeerks and how they were on Earth. He explained the power they could have and what they would be doing. I could see Rachel was in. I was happy about that. Dad said they could say no if they wanted to; they didn't need to fight. He then asked to speak to each of them alone for a few minutes. One by one, they went into a side room to speak to him. I don't know what he said to them, but they all agreed.


	7. Rachel

**A/N: These next few chapters are kinda short. I just wanted to introduce the other Animorphs with their own chapters, as well as describe what Elfangor told them. I hope you enjoy.**

Tobias' father is an alien! Boy, that was a shock. I hadn't ever expected that. He's definitely wonderful enough for it though, not to mention strong. Elfangor (can you believe that's his name) asked if I wanted to speak with him alone. I told him yes! There were so many things I wanted to ask him. However, the minute we were alone, he started talking first.

"Rachel." He began. "I know what you are feeling right now. I know by the look on your face, in your eye. It's a look I have seen many times in _arisths_ , Andalite cadets. We are a warrior race, many of us feel the pull of battle, but I do not think humans are so like that."

I was surprised at his words. Was he saying it was bad that I was excited? "Are you saying I shouldn't feel excited to fight, sir? That I shouldn't be proud to fight for my world?"

He smiled wanly at me. "Of course not, Rachel. Being enthusiastic is fine. Also, Elfangor will do just fine." he leaned in closer to her. "Rachel, I see a fierceness in you. You wish to fight the battles, to win the war, but not for the victory itself. You crave the fight, the rush, the blood, the fight to the death. I know because I have seen cadets like you, so ready, so strong and yet the war becomes their whole life, unable to cope without it." I sat back in my seat. "I don't want this to happen to you Rachel. You are an incredible asset to us, you will take risks others won't, you will fight to the death for someone else, sacrifice yourself for your friends, but I don't want that to become the only option. You can have a life outside this war, while still fighting in it." My face fell as I heard what he was saying. The part of me that made me so useful in this war was also my greatest weakness. I felt somehow that he was saying I was unfit as he praised me. That he saw failure in me as much as he saw success. And for reasons I couldn't explain, this hurt me. "Rachel, look at me." he said. I lifted my head to look him in the eyes. Eyes full of compassion, eyes that I could tell had seen so much. "I do not wish to hurt you. I want to help you as best I can. I will train you and help you become the greatest fighter you can be." I sat a bit straighter at that. "However," he said, leaning in close, "if I find you to be 'enjoying the fight too much,' if I find you slipping, I will take you off missions." I gasped. This was not supposed to happen, how could he think of doing that to me? Before I could think of speaking, though, he continued. "I do this because I care about you, Rachel. Just as my son does." I blushed a little. "I want to keep you in peak condition. Not only physically, but mentally too. If I find you slipping, I will remind you of why you are fighting. Instead of going on missions, you will go hiking in the wilderness, or spend a day at the mall. You will have a life outside the war for a few days, and realize what it is you're fighting _for._ Not for you, or the fight, but for the Human race, planet Earth. Do you understand what I'm saying?" I thought about it. I understood what he said. I saw his wisdom in this and thanked him before leaving.

"I am excited to start, Elfangor."

"Good for you." I smiled as I left.


	8. Marco

I came because Tobias was my friend. Jake was going too, cause of Rachel, so I tagged along to keep an eye on him. I also was curious to see what was going down there. It had a "secret club meeting" vibe. I was excited to see what it was, but when I heard that Tobias' father was an alien, the first thing I did was ask to see his green antenna. Rachel elbowed me for that. I found it funny. Then he'd surprised me and said they were actually blue and he'd lost them when he became human. I instantly liked this guy. I wanted to talk to him personally though. See what he _really_ was about. When I walked in and sat down, however, he began the conversation.

"I know you don't want to be here, Marco."

For once, I had no witty retort. "What makes you say that?"

"The look on your face when I described our predicament. Sure, you were excited about the alien part, but carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders is not your desire is it?"

I shrugged. "Can't say that it is; there are some really fat people on this planet. My science teacher alone-."

"Yet, you would be a great help to us."

I knew not to make any more jokes. This guy would take no crap. However, my feelings hadn't changed and I gave a little more than a shrug this time. "Look, I get how the whole world is at stake here and stuff, but look, we're just five kids. What the hell are we gonna do against an army we can't see? Sure, the Earth is where I live and I'd like it to stay free, but I won't die fighting in a rebellion destined to fail. This isn't Return of the Jedi. We don't have some magic back-up plan to destroy all the bad guys at once. It just won't work. And I don't see the point in dying over that. And I really hate m science teacher."

Elfangor simply smiled. "That's what I like about you Marco. The way you see things. So clearly, no distractions. It's part of the reason why I want you to help."

"And the other part?"

"I think you'll have a pretty compelling reason to join this fight after I show you something."

"This better not be some dumb mind control ring."

Elfangor almost chuckled. "I wish, Marco. I wish."

He took out a small screen from his pocket and showed it to me. On it was a picture of a woman. A woman I knew. Memories of warm hugs and a carefree laugh filled my head. I turned away, unable to look at it anymore.

"That's a picture of my mom. Why do you have that? She's…she's dead."

"No, Marco. I'm sorry, but she's not." Elfangor said, gently.

I faced him with fury on my face. "You're sorry she's _not!?"_

"Marco—

I stood up, fuming. "How dare you? I'm leaving right now if you think you can—

"Marco, she's not dead because she's infested." I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned slowly to face this alien standing before me.

"I wouldn't wish this on anyone." he said.

"You said she's infested. You mean she's…"

"There's a Yeerk in her head, Marco."

"But, she…died." My voice was barely a whisper."

Elfangor came close and put a hand on my shoulder. "Did they find a body?"

"No, but…"

"The Yeerk in her head decided it was time for her to move on. I'm sorry, Marco. Your mother is not only a Controller – what we call those with Yeerks in their heads – she is Visser One. The highest ranking Yeerk in their military." I had to take a step back. "I wish this wasn't true. I wish you had no reason to join this war and you could, like you want, leave her without having to see me again. But I thought you might want to know."

"How did you know?" I asked him. "How did you know about my mother?"

"I did a background check on each of you before you came here." _Fair enough._ I thought. "I found information on your mother that matched up with Yeerk intel I've been gathering. I managed to penetrate enough to confirm what I thought."

"Clever."

"Thank you." Elfangor smiled, wryly. "I can count on you then?"

Reluctantly, I nodded. I would do all it took to free my mother. I _will_ see her smile again.


	9. Cassie

**A/N: Sorry again about the long break. I've been very busy recently and had some family visiting and I couldn't find the time to write. I'll try harder to post more regularly. Hope people are still reading this. Anyway, enjoy.**

Tobias spoke to his father before me. I guess Elfangor didn't want to show favoritism by putting him first or last. Duh, made sense. I didn't really know why I was here, but I knew why all the others were here. They had a war to fight, the enemy to kill. I wanted nothing to do with that, but I was also amazed to find out that aliens existed. New life, this was amazing! Too bad it had to be ruined by the atmosphere. We were here to be turned into soldiers, I knew that, but I didn't want it. That's why when I went in I simply sat down and waited for Elfangor to begin. I wanted to know what he had to say, whether he would try to convince me to become one of his soldiers, tell me how important it was to fight. I wanted to know how hard it would be to convince him I didn't want to fight.

"You don't have to fight if you don't want to, Cassie." That was the first thing he said to me, when I came in and sat down. I waited for him to speak but he didn't and a long silence followed in which we simply looked at each other. When finally he opened his mouth, this was what he said. I was shocked. I hadn't expected this from him. I knew this was optional, but I'd expected him to try and convince me to join him, not give me a chance to leave.

"You obviously want me to be here, Elfangor." I said, confidently. "I would like to know why before I flatly turn you down.

He smiled at me and I felt as if I'd passed a test I didn't know I was taking. "You have a good heart, Cassie… and it's in the right place. You understand people, you care about them, and because of this, you are the one I'd put most of my trust in."

"That's just my character. Not what I can bring to this team. I'm definitely not like Rachel, with her thrill for danger, nor like Marco with his cool, clear-cut vision. I'm not born for this like Tobias or willing to hurt to prevent being hurt like Jake. You don't need someone on your team second guessing every move she makes wondering if it's right or ethical."

Elfangor nodded his head. "Actually we do. The others out there, even Tobias, whose heart is pure, could use someone like you. You would be their rock, their compass. You would turn them in the direction they have to go and you would pull them back if they went too far and show them the better way. That is how you could be useful to them. But that is not the reason for _you_. There is a reason for you to fight in this war Cassie. Yes, it will be hard, you may do things that go so against your morals that you can't sleep at night. You may see things that would destroy your innocence, change your life forever. But there is no one more important to fight in this war, than you."

It all starts with an Andalite. A man named Seerow. You know what he did? He found the Yeerks. On their homeworld. And you know what he saw? Not slugs, not parasites, but a race of beings with desires as much as everyone else. A race that should have the same opportunities to grow and live as much as the next. That's what you can do Cassie. While the others are thinking of ways to destroy the enemy, you will think of ways to help them. To help them help themselves. The Yeerks are cruel, that is true, but not all Yeerks are the same, just as not all humans are the same, or all Andalites. The others see no more than that which they hate. That which must be destroyed. While not wrong that they must defeat the Yeerks, they are too blind to see them in any other light. I must confess myself like them. I have seen too many horrors in this war to avoid seeing cruelty on both sides; I cannot see the Yeerks as you would. You are perhaps the most valuable soldier of all. The one who wants to stop the war, stop the fighting, seek to make peace. That is the chance I am offering you. I am not saying it will be easy, or that you will be completely successful, only that if you decide to join, that would be your duty. And I'm positive you would bear it well."

I thought only for a few moments on what he said. The choice was really no choice at all.

"I choose to fight." I said, confidently. I hoped to god I wasn't making a mistake.


	10. Jake

I sauntered into the room, hands in my pockets and dropped myself onto the chair in front of Elfangor. I waited for him to lecture me on my behavior. All the others had talked of how understanding this man was, how he saw right through you, helped you where you needed it the most. I didn't believe it. At least, he couldn't help me. He would try to tell me something about bullying and how it was wrong, whatever. He had no idea how I felt. My brother hated me. He'd torture me every day. And my parents did nothing. They had no idea and there was no way I could tell them their perfect son hurt me. They'd think I was just trying to get attention. Adults all ignored me, I was never good enough. I learned from home that the strong take from the weak. That's the way it was, the way it always would be.

When I heard about this war that supposedly had been going on for years, I was resigned to it. I understood the mentality of these Yeerks. We were their food supply; they were going to take us over, and there was no way of stopping it. That's why I thought this was pointless, there was no reason for us to be gathered like this, talking about fighting. But I wanted to know what Elfangor would say.

"You're stronger than you think Jake." I was taken aback. This was not what I'd expected.

"What do you mean?" I asked, surly.

"You feel weak, don't you? When you come home and you see your brother there, and think he's going to do something to you, you feel trapped, unable to escape. And you hate that don't you?"

I squirmed slightly in my seat. How could he know this? However, I harden my expression and stare him in the eye. "You don't know me."

"I think I know you more than you know yourself." Elfangor said. I scoffed at that. "Jake, you try so hard to show others you are strong, but that's exactly what is keeping you weak. You don't need the approval of others to tell you, you are strong. I can show you how strong you are. Instead of hurting children younger than you, help them. Showing someone you are bigger than them by helping them, giving them a person to count on, is presenting a strength so much greater than any physical prowess can show. You have the capacity for such strength and leadership. I see in your eyes how you want to help people. When you look at someone smaller than you in a position of weakness, you see yourself. However, instead of helping them, and in doing so, help yourself, you try to beat the weakness down." I began to stiffen as he spoke. I didn't want to hear any of this, but I didn't move. He reached forward and put a hand on my knee. "Jake, I'm giving you a chance here to not only help those weaker than you, you can help the world."

"There's no fighting the strong, Elfangor. I know that. The Yeerks are stronger than us."

Elfangor sat up. "Whoever said they were stronger than us?"

"We don't know who or how many they are, they have the superior weapons and numbers. We're outmatched."

"And they're outsmarted. They have no idea who or how many we are either. I think you'll find our weapons to be of greater or at least strength. And as for numbers, this is not a full-on battle. You will be a guerilla force, targeting small areas, disrupting plans. Jake, this is all very thought out."

"They still outnumber us, how long can we fight?"

"Jake, this is not about numbers. Stop thinking about the planet for a second. What if there was someone you knew who was a Controller? If you knew someone who was a slave in their own head, would you not be compelled to fight for them? And even if you couldn't help them, fight in their name?"

"But I don't. There's no way I'd know."

"I'm sorry, Jake. But it seems there is."

I sat up in my chair. "What do you mean?"

"I've been monitoring Yeerk movement, Jake. Many times, I've seen someone with them, someone close to you." He paused and showed me a picture of a paused moment in a security camera feed. He pointed to the top right corner. I squinted to see the face there. "Tom Berenson. He's been seen in many Yeerk meetings, and he goes to the Sharing, right?" I nodded. "It's a front for the Yeerks. All Sharing organizer meetings are run by high-ranking Controllers. Tom is one of them."

I didn't want to believe it. Yes, I hated my brother. He was so cruel to me, but I didn't want to imagine him a prisoner in his own head. That was too terrible, too horrible, even for a bully like him.

"Jake." I looked up at Elfangor. "You don't have to fight if you don't want to. This is your choice. You can either go back to your old life, let fate take its course, or take control of your own destiny. Make the enemy take a step back and think. There are other ways of being strong than being the biggest and I can help you realize that. But if you so choose, you can tell me no and I will respect that."

I shook my head. "No, I want to." I'd thought about what he'd said. I wasn't sure if I agreed with it, but for some reason I wanted to fight for the little guy for once. I don't know if it was his words, or Tom, but I felt it was time I fought back. No more lying there, waiting to be stomped on. I'd stand up and do what was right.


	11. The Animorphs

Tobias' POV:

I was slightly surprised when my father asked to speak with me. I went in all the same and took a seat.

"Tobias there's something I haven't told you." My dad started.

"What is it, Dad?" I asked.

"I want you to lead this group."

I was taken aback. I'd thought he would lead us. This hadn't been part of the plan. "What about you?"

He shook his head. "I will be overseeing. Your superior officer, if you like. I will train you and give you your missions, but you will have them carry them out. I won't be there; I won't be able to see all the variables. There will be decisions you will have to make, ones I can't help you with. I trust you to lead this group well."

I started getting scared. I didn't think I was ready for this responsibility. "Dad, I don't think I can…"

"I know you can, Tobias. You have the strength in you. Just like your mother."

Tears came to my eyes to think about her. I was about to begin fighting like she had. I would carry on her work. I never felt closer to her. "What if I fail, Dad?" I whispered. "What if something happens to one of them and it was my fault?"

"You will be fine, Tobias. Remember, you aren't going into this untrained, I will help you." I nodded, drawing strength from his confidence in me. "One more thing, Tobias. To feel uncertainty is natural, you should question your leadership. But be careful, they must not see it. A captain must always seem confident to his soldiers. If they see you are weak, they will be weak. It's ok to second guess your decisions as long as you give them surely, as long as you seem strong." I nodded. This would be hard, but I understood its importance. I left feeling a good deal heavier than when I'd come in.

Once they were all done speaking to Elfangor, he took out the _Escafil device_ and I watched them all touch the blue box. I saw the expressions on their faces and I couldn't wait for my turn. I had to know how it felt. I was last. I looked my father in the eye as I stepped up to receive it. I felt like I'd been waiting for this my whole life. Tears came unwillingly to my eyes.

"The moment has come, Tobias." He said. He smiled slightly. I could see that he was proud of me.

For Mom. He told me in thought-speech. That pretty much summed up how I felt. I nodded around the lump in my throat and put my hand on the cube. My skin began to tingle and I felt something stir inside me. I lifted my hand and looked into my father's eyes. He nodded, then turned to look at my friends as well and said,

"Tomorrow we begin your training."

The first thing to do was to get our morphs. Luckily, Cassie's mom worked as a vet at a local zoo and she let us in to see the animals. We needed some dangerous morphs which were harder to get, but we managed it without much injury. Fortunately, the animal you are "acquiring" goes into a kind of trance while you do it, which makes it easier. We also got some bird morphs from the animal hospital at Cassie's farm.

After that, my father began to train us. Every day after school, the five of us would congregate in my basement for training. My dad had built an underground bunker of some kind that allowed us to train. There was a hologram room the size of a school gym where we could have mock battles. I had no idea how my father had managed to build it, but it was very useful.

We always came separately, only two at a time, and took different routes, so people wouldn't notice the five of us constantly together. The key was to avoid attention. Any suspicion about any one of us and we all might fall. All the Yeerks needed was one of us to know all our secrets. We had to be extra careful.

The first meeting we had, all we did was morph. I was the first to try it. It felt really weird. All the bones and muscles in my body changed as I morphed into another creature. I first turned into a bird and by the looks on my friends' faces, it wasn't pretty. I won't tell you what I saw happening to my body; it was too strange, but soon it was done and now, I was a bird.

As soon as the morph was complete, I felt the hawk mind surface. My father had warned us about instinct. An animal's mind is ruled by it and it could take over ours. The hawk mind was telling me to fly, get away, maybe attack; I almost did. Then, I heard my father's voice in my head, helping me get control again.

Tobias, listen to me. You are not a hawk, you are my son. With my father's help, I took control of the hawk's mind. My first flight was the happiest time of my life. it wasn't as fun as it would've been outside, but the feeling of soaring in the air was nothing like I's ever experienced before. With my father's help, my friends soon joined me and we spent at least ten minutes laughing as we soared through the air. We tried all different kinds of morphs that day. I enjoyed the quickness of the leopard, the incredible nose of the wolf, and the sheer strength of the elephant.

My dad trained us for three weeks. During that time we were to learn as much as we could about the Yeerks. We tried to infiltrate the Sharing, but we had to be careful. We couldn't be seen there too much. We discovered much about the Yeerks and what they were doing, but there was one realization that outdid all others. Tom, Jake's brother, was a Controller. Apparently my dad had already known and told him, but it was a shock for the rest of us. When we asked him about it, he simply shrugged it off, muttering that it was fine. I felt so bad for him. He'd had a hard time.

There had been something noticeably different about him ever since Elfangor had talked to him. He was still very sullen and felt offended quickly, but he was quieter, and not only had he stopped bullying younger kids, but he'd also stepped in to defend them against other bullies.

It was only after a month of training that we went on our first mission. At first I was nervous. Though excited to finally be doing something, I had never done anything like this before. My father encouraged us over and over by thought-speak, assuring us of our abilities. I was happy my father had shown us what Taxxons and Hork-Bajir looked like before this. They would've scared the pants off us if we hadn't been prepared. Being the leader of the mission, I gave the order to attack. The moment the fighting started, I never felt so alive. I was in leopard morph. I felt it fitting; after all, I was doing this for my mom. My jaws snapped left and right, always finding flesh. The others were having as much of a success. We were like a well-oiled machine; the battle was over barely before it was started.

Good work. My father told us, as we surveyed the satisfying result of our first mission. After that, I led the way home.

 **A/N: Sorry if my chapters are too short, but I do like to focus more on the characters themselves than the story. I know this is going quickly so if you prefer to read more about the morphs they do or battles of them fighting the Yeerks, I suggest you read something else, I will be focusing more on how Tobias and Elfangor interact.**


	12. The Andalite

It was three weeks after our first mission. We'd had two more successful missions since then, and I was proud to finally be doing something important. One day, I came home one day to find my father in the monitor room, staring into the space just above Earth.

"Dad?" I asked. He didn't move. I came and touched his shoulder. "Dad what is it?"

I looked to the screen. There was a big long ship with a dome at the top in the midst of an enormous battle. That's what he was looking at. Apparently there was a battle happening just above Earth's atmosphere. Foolishly, I looked up at the ceiling, then, shaking my head, I focused on my father again. This could be very bad; a battle above could have disastrous repercussions for us down here. That would explain my father's strange behavior, but there seemed to be something else upsetting him as well.

"Dad?" I asked again, louder this time. He turned to look at me. I couldn't get a fix on his expression. It ranged from relief, to pride, to fear and then finally, terror.

"It's the Andalites, son." He said. His voice cold. I looked at the ships fighting above and pictured Andalites piloting them, having come to save Earth.

"Isn't this good?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Right now, no. The Yeerks are too strong. I don't think the Andalites assumed it would be this difficult. Visser Three has a new Blade Ship. That alone could do a lot of damage."

"Couldn't you help?" I asked. "You have a ship too, right?" As I spoke, I realized how foolish I was being. That would blow our cover. Not to mention how little one small, barely armed ship could do. But my father seemed to take my comment to mean something else.

"I can't ever help." He whispered quietly. My eyes widened. I had no idea he felt that away about helping his people. There was something off about his tone. I sensed there was something he would tell me now, something important that needed to be said, that he had to get off his chest. I crouched down next to his chair and waited for him to speak.

"I left my people, Tobias." He said, looking me in the eye. Whatever discomfort he felt over his decision, I knew he didn't regret it because of me. "And that was shameful. If the Andalites ever found out I had done this, I would be disgraced, my name destroyed. Yet that is not what I fear. I have made my peace with my decision, however I cannot fight. I must stay here to protect you. Although, more than that, I do not want the Andalites to take me home with them. If they found me, they might. I can't ever leave you, so I must stay here, in this room, only watching, never interfering, though it pains me greatly."

I stand up and out my arms around my father to let him know I am there for him. I know he will not cry, yet one tear slips down my face. He holds me to him with one arm as the other controls his view of the battle. Something catches his eye, and he starts in surprise. He zooms in on a single fighter ship spinning out of control. It zooms past the other ships heading straight for the planet. My father is fixed on it, following its path down to Earth. In the midst of the battle, not many notice him. Even so, all the other Andalite fighters are engaged. No one can come help him. The Yeerks are busy as well and leave him for dead.

My father typed a lot on the keyboard and the monitor showed him the fighter's path, where it will crash. I start. That's right near where we live. Somewhere in the woods. My father put his head in his hands. I saw the pain in his entire body.

"Father can we save him?" I asked quietly. He lifted his head slowly to look at me, tears in his eyes.

"Tobias, I can't..."

"Not you, Dad. Us. The Animorphs. We can save him. _One_ Andalite, Dad. One. That's all I'm asking for. Look at him; they're going to leave him. He'll die. And then the Yeerks will make sure no one ever even knows he was there. Let us save him."

I saw how badly my father wanted to. After a long struggle in his eyes, he finally said,

"Alright. Take Jake, go save him. Wait for my command." It was a Saturday. I called Jake's house to see if he wanted to _hang._ He said sure. Two minutes later, with the help of bird morph, he came. Over the past few weeks, Jake had changed. A lot. He no longer had that fear in his eyes, that need for admiration or fear. He stood taller, and he no longer looked as sullen. The war had changed him. He knew what it was like to _fight_ for the little guy now. He knows what it's like to be bullied, but now he was fighting back, in a way that matters. As the missions passed, he became more confident in his abilities and I found he had surprised even me, with the maneuvers he'd pulled off.

"This mission will be like none other." I told him, once he was inside. "It's a rescue mission."

His eyes widened and I smiled at him. We flew to the clearing where the ship was estimated to land. Thankfully, there were no Yeerks there yet.

The pilot has gained enough control of his ship to make a landing. My father announced. But it will not be a smooth one. We wait under the cover of the trees in wolf morph for him. I heard the sound of it coming before it was visible. Then even when the sound magnified, I could not see the ship. It's cloaked. I realized. The moment it landed it appeared, but not for long. The moment it was on the ground, the hatch opened and an Andalite came sprinting out. He ran a few meters to the left of us into the forest. A second later, the ship exploded. This was good. Perhaps the Yeerks would think he had died in the crash. With our noses we sniffed out where the Andalite was hiding. The moment he saw us, he stiffened and raised his tail blade.

Tobias... Jake told me privately.

I know. I replied. It was one thing seeing an Andalite on a screen, something completely different in person. It was an incredible moment for us. But we would have to take the time to enjoy it later. The Andalite still had his tail at the ready.

Peace, Andalite. I told him. He was shocked, but still didn't lower his blade.

I was not aware of other Andalites on this planet. And in morph no less. He spoke.

There are many things you are unaware of; we would like to make you aware of them. I said, reciting the speech Elfangor had made Jake and I memorize.

I am warrior Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil. He said. What are your names? You must be of considerable rank to be on this planet without any of Andalites up above knowing of it.

I said nothing. I had frozen at the name Aximili. At this point I remembered nothing. I told Jake to continue while I stood frozen.

Dad? I asked.

I know, Tobias. He replied.

But...

Just bring him here.

Yes, Father.

Jake was addressing Aximili. We are not in a secure area at this time. We would prefer to answer your questions only once we have you in a safe environment. Please follow us.

My uncle looked wary. It _was_ a little suspicious that we didn't give him our names but there was no other choice. He had to trust us.

You can trust us, Aximili. I said, finally having found my voice. It wasn't on the script but I felt it was needed.

Jake, again, continued. We have a morph for you to wear until you can be hidden. He said. There is no need to be afraid. For what other creatures could have the _Escafil_ device? We know only Andalites have the technology to morph. This was a very carefully planned part of the speech. Elfangor knew Andalite pride would not allow for other creatures to have the morphing ability. It might blind him into trusting us. Aximili nodded, and we led him to the injured fox we had laid down on the ground and covered in mud to mask the smell of a kill. There were other wolves in this area and we had to be wary of them. Aximili acquired the fox and we set off. We led him to a protected spot and waited for cover of darkness. Luckily, it wasn't that far away, so we still had time left in morph. We led him to the residential area and ducked behind houses to avoid being seen.

The easiest way to hide is to blend in. I told the obviously confused Aximili. I don't think he trusted us yet, but he followed us home. We used the backyard tunnel to the basement to get in. The moment we were all inside, Jake and I had to demorph quickly, and out of sight. We left Aximili in the big open room and went upstairs through the side door. It was so quick he didn't see and now he was alone. He remained mostly calm, as a credit to him.

Where have you gone, Andalites? Have you been traitor to your kind, sell out to the Yeerks?

There are no traitors here, Aximili. My father spoke up. The room was mostly dim, Aximili standing in the middle. Jake and I were in our normal forms now. We waited in the viewing room for my father. He was in the secondary room in the basement, waiting to come out. I knew Aximili recognized the thought speak voice he had heard and obviously thought he was mistaken.

Elfangor? He asked, disbelieving.

Yes, brother. He replied. Jake looked at me. I nodded silently.

"Do you want me to leave?" He whispered.

I shrugged. "You can stay if you want." I didn't care that Jake was here. I was too focused on my father and uncle.

How is this possible, brother? Your ship crashed. You died.

I didn't, brother. I survived. I came to this planet to live. My father's voice is strained. I know he's trying to keep the shame out of his voice.

Where are you, Elfangor? Let me see you.

There is no need for that.

Why hide yourself from me? Like your associates told me, you have nothing to fear.

There is much you do not understand Aximili, I do not wish you to be frightened. My father was scared. I realized. For all his pride and acceptance, he is afraid to face his brother. I partially start my hawk morph in order to speak to my father privately.

Father, don't be afraid. Think of me. He is your brother. He deserves to see you. I think my words helped because a moment later, he stepped out of the shadows.

"Hello Aximili." He said with his mouth.

Aximili, shocked, takes a step back. What is the meaning of this brother?

I told you there was much you don't understand. I know you are wondering so I will tell you. This is my form now.

Aximili narrowed his eyes. You were wrong Elfangor. There is a traitor here. Someone who betrayed all his kind and lied to all those closest to him.

Elfangor stepped closer. "Aximili, please."

No Elfangor. How could you do this to me? To Mother and Father! You were my hero! I grieved when you died, we all did. Aximili's face looked in pain. You were supposed to have died a hero! As someone who had saved us all. This, this unthinkable. You have destroyed your own legacy.

"Aximili." My father pleaded. "You do not understand because you did not go through the pains of war as I have. You have not had to make decisions that broke your heart. You have not had nightmares of the screams of those you have destroyed all in the name of good." I saw tears in my father's eyes as he spoke of his past. "I understand your anger; I have never forgotten the shame of that decision. But if I had to go back and choose again, I would not change what I have done. I was not able to continue in the life I was living. In a way, I did die. But I was reborn as this." My father spread out his arms, presenting himself to his brother. "I was able to continue living, in a way I could no longer do as an Andalite. I built a life for myself here. I was able to carry my burdens, but only where I was comfortable. Where no one knew me and the only legacy I had was what I did further."

Aximili no longer glared at my father, but he was still visibly upset. Jake beside me had looked away. I could tell he felt he didn't belong here. Yet he stayed. I think he stayed for me and I felt gratitude towards him.

Why, though, Elfangor? How? What made you come here, to this rock to live, away from your family, all alone? Why Earth?

"It's a long tale Aximili. But I will share it with you. It was before you were born..." This story I knew by heart. After my mom had died, I had made my dad tell it to me over and over again. I loved it. It was full of sorrow, and had sad ending, but it was also the story of how my parents fell in love. The story of the Skrit Na and their cargo. I watched Jake beside me. This story was new to him. I was sure a lot of the things were unfamiliar to him, but he recognized the significance of this tale.

"Once you joined the army," my father was saying, "I knew I had to protect you. The horrors I had tried to push to the back of my mind all came back the moment I held a _Shredder_ in my hand again, when I flew a fighter ship again. And it was all worth it, just so I could protect you, so I could make sure you _never_ went through the things I did. And then, you were out of my division; they promoted you, and you deserved it. But that meant I could no longer protect you. What happened to you could no longer be my responsibility. So I was torn. I could not go back home again, alone, where I didn't belong, nor could I stay in the military. I needed a place to rest."

I saw my father sit down on a bench and put his head in his hands. "I couldn't just leave the army though. So I made it look like I had been lost and came to Earth. I married the woman I had grown to love and made a life here."

And what of your associates? What are their reasons for being here? Have they simply accepted your treachery?

"Aximili," my father said slowly, "those wolves you met in the forest were not Andalites." Of all the things Elfangor had said, none of them hit Aximili like this one.

You broke the law of _Seerow's Kindness_? He breathed. Before he had shouted, now he barely made a sound. Yet the tension in the room had never been thicker.

"Aximili—

HOW COULD YOU? Of all the laws to break, you must choose the worst. I used to think so highly of you Elfangor! I looked up to you! Do the traditions of our people mean nothing to you now? At all? You left your people, and that was your decision, but you could have left it alone for the rest of us! You didn't have to change everything!

"Aximili, ENOUGH!" For the first time I can remember, my father raised his voice. His presence suddenly overwhelming, my uncle took a step back. You could see the Andalite within him then. The power, the proud and experienced warrior, the fierce commander. "These people are defenseless!" He continued. "Do you not feel pity when you look at them, and know what the Yeerks will do to them? Do you know what has happened on the Hork-Bajir homeworld, Aximili? The horrors our people have created? This is what I hope to prevent here. In coming here, I have become a part of this world, and its responsibilities. I have the opportunity to try and save it, you don't think I would do all I can? The humans are not the Yeerks. Yes, they have faults of their own, but so do we, so do us all. I hope to save a race instead of let it be destroyed. The humans, and especially the ones I've chosen, will not betray us. They have no reason to. And you have no reason to distrust them."

So who then, are these humans so deserving of our gifts?

"One of them is your kin, Aximili. You met him not long ago. One of those wolves...was my son."

For the first time since he'd arrived, Aximili looked calm. There was a change in his eyes, a look of understanding and respect. Andalites take family very seriously. I understood this.

"Would you like to meet him?" My father asked. All of a sudden, I grew very nervous. I was not prepared for this. My father, guessing correctly at my feelings, reassured me.

It's alright, Tobias. It'll be alright.

"Tobias!" He called aloud. "You can come out now." Slowly, Jake watching me, I stood up from my chair and taking a deep breath, I opened the door.

I had seen him as a wolf, and definitely smelled him, but now I was seeing him with my own eyes. I could study him in more detail now. The first thing I noticed was the stalk eyes. Ever moving, they caught my eye. I studied his tail next. I'd always wanted to see an Andalite tail in person.

"Hi Aximili." I said. "I'm Tobias."

The no mouth thing was a bit disconcerting at first glance; however he still seemed to be able to smile without one. It was in his eyes. He held out his hand, which I took. His hand was warm, it felt nice. I smiled. "I've heard so much about you." I said. "My father told me so many stories of his little brother."

And how did he describe me?

"As brave, and valiant, as headstrong and a good soldier who looked up to his brother. I always imagined you as older, Andalite me. Someone I could be when I grew up. Besides my father." I smiled again.

Thank you for that, Tobias. This means a lot to me.

I nod my head and turn away. "I'll go and do my homework now, but I so enjoyed meeting you, Uncle Ax." I said, for an excuse to leave. I looked at my father before I left the room, and smiled at him. He smiled back and I noticed his eyes were glistening. I found myself wiping mine as well as I opened the door and the moment I sat back down in the chair, I lost control.

"Hey man, you ok?" Jake asked me. He clapped his hand on my shoulder. "It'll be alright."

I nodded my head and rubbed my eyes. I got control of myself and took a deep breath. "I know, Jake. I'm fine. Thanks."

"No problem." I did say I was going to do homework, so I invited Jake upstairs to do it with me. I had no idea what it was that made me cry. All I knew was I was so happy Aximili was here. There was something about having another person part of my family - let alone an Andalite - here that I loved. I'd never realized how much I wanted it to be more than just me and my dad, like it'd been since my mother died. My uncle Ax was here now, and I was happy.


	13. Aximili

A few days after meeting Ax, I came to my father with something on my mind. This was something I'd been thinking about for a while and needed to let him know.

"Dad, I need to tell you something." I came to him after training one day.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's about me leading the Animorphs." I said slowly. I had to say I liked the name Marco had come up with. It had a certain ring to it.

My father pursed his lips as he put equipment away. "What is this about, Tobias?"

"Dad, I don't think I should be the one in charge." I stated, uncomfortably. I didn't want my father thinking I was weak or incapable.

"What makes you say that?"

I twisted my hands together as I continued. "I find myself constantly questioning myself and my decisions. I'm not sure I make the right ones and I don't want to get anyone hurt. Dad, we've almost some battles because of me. I don't think I am fit to lead."

My father stopped what he was doing and looked at me. "Are you sure? I wouldn't have given this position to you if I didn't think you can handle it."

I nodded my head, sure of myself. "I can't do this, Dad. I might be competent, but that's not enough. The others need to put their confidence in someone they put their complete trust in. that's not me. Dad, Jake is the better choice. I've seen him fight; he knows how to lead. I will step down for him."

My dad smiled and put his hands on my shoulders. "I am very proud of you, Tobias."

I was surprised. "You're not disappointed?"

He laughed. "Tobias, I chose you for this position because I thought you deserved it. I knew you would lead well enough and I would let you continue to do so, if you so wished. You might have thought I would think you were weak for turning leadership down, but that only shows your strength, Son. You are incredibly strong in being able to admit the areas in which you are less able. I expected nothing less from you. As for your suggestion, I have felt it too. Jake would have been my choice as well, had you not wanted command." Elfangor picked up the equipment he had gathered. "I'll talk to Jake, Tobias. Don't worry."

I smiled as he walked away. I was uplifted by his words, and felt a deep sense of pride. I knew I had made the right choice. I would look forward to serving under Jake's leadership.

What really excited me was the chance to fight alongside Ax. I had never fought with an Andalite before. This was our chance to show him what we were made of.

That chance arrived a few days later when Elfangor acquired some Intel on what the Yeerks were planning at this hospital. We were to infiltrate and sabotage the operation. At the start of the mission, I felt Aximili's slight disdain for us and more, for Jake leading us when he was more experienced. However, being an Andalite, he tried to show as much respect for us as he was able.

At one point in the mission, we were hiding in one of the hospital rooms, waiting for the coast to be clear before we could reach the top level of the building. We had to get there silently, any noise before that would make it almost impossible. However, the door opened, and instead of Marco, in gorilla morph, waiting by the door ready to grab anyone who opened it, Aximili stepped out on instinct and cut down the Hork-Bajir standing there. He had reacted without thinking, but that had cost us. There were more people in the room beyond and it didn't take them long to notice Ax. Our cover blown, we had little time to escape, let alone finish the mission. It was Jake who saved us. Rachel blocked the door with her enormous bear form, while Jake ordered Marco to pound on the floor, creating a hole to give us access to the level below. We jumped through and made our way to the other side of the building. With no other choice, we took the elevator to the top floor. We would have to face whatever was on the other side. It was a good thing we were prepared, because a virtual army came out to greet us to moment the elevator doors opened.

The moment the doors open, Jake had ordered, everyone make a run for the room at the end of the hall. Pay no heed to the amount of people in our way. The only way to get through is to run and keep pushing. Rachel first, then Tobias, Ax, then Cassie, next me and Marco comes last.

We obeyed with no argument, making a run for it the moment we reached the top floor. We barely made it to the end without losing any limbs.

We quickly did what we set out to do and destroyed the research done on the patients, along with the computer containing the plans the Yeerks had for the hospital. We placed a miniature bomb, designed by Elfangor on the far wall, while again barricading the door, and going down a level via the floor. The bomb wouldn't do much damage. Only the top two floors of the hospital would be demolished and we'd made sure there were no innocents there. Once in the room below, we demorphed and remorphed birds as quickly as we could. We barely were able to escape out the window before the bomb went off.

We flew to Ax's scoop separately, taking longer routes to keep the Yeerk off our trail. We met up not far from Ax's part of the woods, recovering from the aftermath of the battle. Once we were all back in our natural forms, Jake stepped up to Aximili, but he spoke first.

The mission almost failed today because of me. Forgive me, I acted rashly. I will follow your instruction from now on, Prince Jake. I raised my eyebrows at that. I knew what an Andalite Prince was and what he meant to his soldiers. I knew now that Ax had forever accepted Jake as his leader.

"Prince?" Marco asked. "I knew Jake was always a royal pain-in-the-ass, but that's going a bit too far." I mentally shook my head at his ignorance of the importance of this moment.

Every Andalite warrior must have a Prince to follow. Jake is my Prince, and I have acted improperly towards him. He made an Andalite bow to Jake.

Jake waved him off. "That's unnecessary. You are forgiven Ax. As long as it doesn't happen again." I marveled at the way Jake handled the situation. There really was no doubt that he should lead. The others said their goodbyes and walked home. I gave Ax a farewell, and went after Jake.

Jake's POV:

Aximili called me his Prince today. This was the first mission I had led. I'd been surprised when Tobias had given leadership to me. He'd called everyone together for a meeting and said he was stepping down. He'd offered me the position instead. I hadn't wanted it, but by the looks on the other's faces, I couldn't say no. It was like they knew, without any confirmation, that I would be the best leader for them. I had seen them look to me during missions; I just hadn't wanted to do anything. I knew leadership was a hard position to maintain; I didn't want the pressure or the power. For so long, I'd thought I did, but that was just a facade. I had only wanted to feel strong, to escape the feeling of weakness my brother had made me feel. Elfangor spoke to me as well, assuring me of my abilities to command. I wasn't so sure I believed him, I had been wrong about many things. I was afraid I might mess things up, but that all went away the moment we had our first mission with me as leader. I had never felt tougher or braver. I knew then, I needed no one else to feel strong. Now, I was given the opportunity to lead. It wasn't what I wanted, but I took it anyway; the others needed me. They saw Tobias' choice to step down to be the right one and I couldn't let them down. I was confident that first mission. Nothing was supposed to go wrong. I knew Ax felt a bit miffed in being put under my command, but I expected to behave appropriately. Although I knew his mishap to be a mistake, I had to approach him in front of everyone at the end of the mission. I was pleased to find I had no need. I was pleased with the way he handled the situation. The "Prince" thing surprised me, but I understood this was Andalite tradition. All that mattered was that he followed me faithfully.

I noticed Tobias walking with me as I headed home. I knew he wanted some time alone with me, so I waited for him to speak.

"I'm sorry for not telling you first before asking in front of everyone for you to lead."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "It's fine Tobias. It was the right choice, everyone knew it."

He looked down. "Was it that obvious I couldn't lead?"

I stopped him. "No Tobias, you led us fine. You are just better at other things. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. It just so happens, your strengths lie elsewhere than leadership. You are apparently better suited for other roles; that's nothing to be ashamed of."

"There's no doubt you are suited to lead, Jake. The way you handled that with Ax today…"

I smiled, slightly. "You think?"

Tobias looked at me seriously. "Jake, a Prince is something very important in Andalite culture. You're pretty much G-d to Ax. Your word is law, your leadership absolute." I nodded in acknowledgment of his statement.

"Thanks for the talk, Tobias." I waved goodnight as I headed home.


	14. The Ability To Lead

**A/N: Another short chapter. I just wanted a way to transition between what just happened and what's gonna happen next.**

Tobias' POV:

We fought for a long time. It seemed whenever we dealt a blow to the Yeerks, they would be back to full strength within a few weeks, and come up with something even more horrible. My life was a mess of school and missions and coming home beat to my father. I wished for an end to the war. We'd fought countless battles. We'd discovered the existence of the Chee, peaceful androids created by a race of creatures called the Pemalites, living on Earth. Though sworn against violence, they had infiltrated the Sharing, and gave us Intel on the Yeerks; they were vitally useful to us. Over time, it seemed like my life had always been this way. Any time we tried for normalcy, something would happen. I spoke about it with Ax a lot. I never told my dad how I felt. I knew he still feared for me. He was proud I fought, but his biggest fear was still losing me. I couldn't tell him how tired I was, how I wanted it all to end. I spoke to my uncle instead.

Over the past months we'd grown very close. I was very pleased about this. I felt a kind a connection to him that went past us being Animorphs. We both had lost people. Even though my father had turned out to be alive, he knew how I felt. Then again, he was still alone on this planet; everyone he'd known had died the day he'd crashed here. I too, in a way, was alone. My father, though having lived a long time on Earth, was still not really one of its people. I was a part of two very different worlds, stuck in the middle. I found peace with Ax, and he found comfort in me. One day, he told me of a term amongst his people called a _shorm_. It came from the Andalite word for tailblade, meaning this is someone you trust so much, if they put their tailblade to your throat, you would not be afraid. I was touched that Ax considered me his _shorm_.

I came to him one night, simply wanting to talk. I found him looking up at the sky.

"You looking for home, Ax?" I asked.

I know where the Andalite planet is, Tobias. I was simply thinking of my family.

I smiled at his literalness. It would take a little longer before our culture influenced him enough to soften him up. It was already having an effect; I'd recently heard Ax use sarcasm on more than one occasion.

"You miss them, don't you?" I asked him, more serious now.

He nodded. Yes, Tobias. I miss my family. I miss my people.

I looked down. "I'm sorry."

Ax cocked his head in puzzlement. This is not your fault, Tobias.

I shook my head. "I just meant I feel your pain."

Oh. A silence followed. Tobias?

"Yeah?"

Do you resent your father for bringing this war to you?

I laughed a grim laugh. "Ax, he didn't bring anything to me. If anything, he saved me. Without him, I might've had a Yeerk in my head by now."

But your mother—

"Fought for what she believed in. She should have done nothing less. I fight in her name, Ax." Another silence followed. Mine this time. "Aximili? Are you still mad at my father?"

His main eyes left the sky and looked at me, smiling that Andalite smile in his eyes. No, Tobias. I think you, most of all, have shown me to forgive him. I had not known the pain he went through in his fight; it's not my place to judge. I have even forgiven him for breaking our most sacred law. I admit us Andalites can a bit close-minded at times. This may have caused certain blindness in regards to other species. I see how you humans are deserving of the gifts we Andalites can offer you. You would not misuse them the way the Yeerks did. I feel proud to fight with you for your race, Tobias.

I smiled and came closer to put my arm around my uncle. "Me too, Uncle Ax. Me too."


	15. Shorms

**A/N: This is a short chapter. After this things get complicated. I put this in as a transition between what just happened and what will soon. I mostly wrote this fanfic as a way for all the things I wanted between Elfangor and Tobias to play out. I hope you like it. Side note: I have found that I have a hard time posting everyday, so instead you'll probably get a few chapters a week. I know I've neglected this for a while so I have a few chapters prepared. I hope people will still read this and I would really appreciate reviews. Thanx, happy reading.**

Tobias

We fought for a long time. It seemed whenever we dealt a blow to the Yeerks, they would be back to full strength within a few weeks, and come up with something even more horrible. My life was a mess of school and missions and coming home beat to my father. I wished for an end to the war. We'd fought countless battles. We'd discovered the existence of the Chee, peaceful androids created by a race of creatures called the Pemalites, living on Earth. Though sworn against violence, they had infiltrated the Sharing, and gave us Intel on the Yeerks; they were vitally useful to us. Over time, it seemed like my life had always been this way. Any time we tried for normalcy, something would happen. I spoke about it with Ax a lot. I never told my dad how I felt. I knew he still feared for me. He was proud I fought, but his biggest fear was still losing me. I couldn't tell him how tired I was, how I wanted it all to end. I spoke to my uncle instead.

Over the past months we'd grown very close. I was very pleased about this. I felt a kind a connection to him that went past us being Animorphs. We both had lost people. Even though my father had turned out to be alive, he knew how I felt. Then again, he was still alone on this planet; everyone he'd known had died the day he'd crashed here. I too, in a way, was alone. My father, though having lived a long time on Earth, was still not really one of its people. I was a part of two very different worlds, stuck in the middle. I found peace with Ax, and he found comfort in me. One day, he told me of a term amongst his people called a _shorm_. It came from the Andalite word for tailblade, meaning this is someone you trust so much, if they put their tailblade to your throat, you would not be afraid. I was touched that Ax considered me his _shorm_.

I came to him one night, simply wanting to talk. I found him looking up at the sky.

"You looking for home, Ax?" I asked.

I know where the Andalite planet is, Tobias. I was simply thinking of my family.

I smiled at his literalness. It would take a little longer before our culture influenced him enough to soften him up. It was already having an effect; I'd recently heard Ax use sarcasm on more than one occasion.

"You miss them, don't you?" I asked him, more serious now.

He nodded. Yes, Tobias. I miss my family. I miss my people.

I looked down. "I'm sorry."

Ax cocked his head in puzzlement. This is not your fault, Tobias.

I shook my head. "I just meant I feel your pain."

Oh. A silence followed. Tobias?

"Yeah?"

Do you resent your father for bringing this war to you?

I laughed a grim laugh. "Ax, he didn't bring anything to me. If anything, he saved me. Without him, I might've had a Yeerk in my head by now."

But your mother—

"Fought for what she believed in. She should have done nothing less. I fight in her name, Ax." Another silence followed. Mine this time. "Aximili? Are you still mad at my father?"

His main eyes left the sky and looked at me, smiling that Andalite smile in his eyes. No, Tobias. I think you, most of all, have shown me to forgive him. I had not known the pain he went through in his fight; it's not my place to judge. I have even forgiven him for breaking our most sacred law. I admit us Andalites can a bit close-minded at times. This may have caused certain blindness in regards to other species. I see how you humans are deserving of the gifts we Andalites can offer you. You would not misuse them the way the Yeerks did. I feel proud to fight with you for your race, Tobias.

I smiled and came closer to put my arm around my uncle. "Me too, Uncle Ax. Me too."


	16. The Visitor

**A/N: This will also be short. After this, everything changes.**

It had been about two years since we started fighting. Jake was our fearless leader and with my father advising us, we barely lost a battle. Our missions were successful and we were really taking a toll against the Yeerks. I missed my mother sometimes, but we did enough to honor her memory. I was proud to fight for the world that was mine. But it couldn't last forever. The Ellimist, a being of immense power, intent on ruining our lives appeared to us again. More specifically, to me.

The Ellimist appeared to me in a flash. The world around me disappeared. In the white, he spoke to me.

 **Hello again, Tobias.**

"Why have you come?" I asked.

 **I've come to take you away.**

"Why? You're always taking us places; maybe I don't want to go."

 **This is different Tobias. You don't belong here.**

"Of course I do. Where else would I belong?"

 **Not here. This is wrong Tobias. Your world is wrong. You are supposed to have a different life, this wasn't supposed to happen.**

"What does that mean? How was this not supposed to happen?"

 **Let me show you.**

The white dissolved and I found myself in an abandoned construction site. The one where I'd seen my mom in morph. Four people stood behind me. One figure knelt in front of me. I approached him. It was me. I saw myself crouching near a fallen Andalite. I come closer. It's my father. No doubt about it. I knew those eyes. He was dying. I choked back tears. What had happened to him? Why wasn't he human? He said something to this Tobias that echoed in my head as well. He asked me about my family. I heard myself tell him the tragic story of his life.

I started shaking my head. No. This couldn't be how things were supposed to be. He told Tobias to leave. He did. Tears in his eyes. If only he knew. I came closer to my dying father. He looked so proud in this form, so great. He had not the pain or shame I saw in his human body. I touched his forehead.

Father, I'm so sorry. He looked up. I was shocked. I hadn't expected him to hear me.


	17. The Life He Lived

**A/N: This might be a little confusing. Keep in mind, it's all that happened to Tobias in the canon story, simply with my Tobias watching. I wrote it this way because I wanted a Tobias who knew his father to experience everything the other Tobias did, except with more knowledge. For example, imagine a Tobias who'd been raised by his father watch him die. i know it's sad, but that's kind of the point. I hope you like it.**

Father, I'm so sorry. He looked up. I was shocked. I hadn't expected him to hear me.

My son. He replied. How do you...

I swallowed the lump in my throat. The Ellimist, Father. I come from a...parallel world.

He looked at me with hope. And in this world you know me? I haven't abandoned you? He needed to know, his eyes pleading. The tears I'd been holding back came now, tearing down my face. You never abandoned me Father, never. Not in this world and not in that one.

But I left you my son, and your mother wasn't there to-

The Ellimist, Father. He forced you to. You said yourself if you had a choice, right? I sat on the ground next to him.

Tobias, am I a good father? That he needed to ask this broke my heart. The tears wouldn't stop now that I sat in front of my dying father. So this is what the end of the world feels like, I thought. It hurt. But my father needed the answer to his question so I told him,

Yes, Father. You are the best. I didn't move as he wiped the tears from my face with weak fingers. I was unable to speak, or even think clearly.

If you find your mother, tell her I love her.

I will. I paused, and then unable to help myself, I added, I love you, Dad.

I love you too, son. He replied. And I believed him. Now go, Tobias. You knew me as your father; you shouldn't have to watch what happens next. Remember me with honor. I nodded and went to join my other self, but I didn't look away. No Father, I thought. I will honor you by seeing you go. I watched the other Tobias as events unfolded. He looked exactly like me, but, at the same time, very different. He looked more afraid, unsure of himself. I could tell that he didn't grow up in a happy home. It was in his eyes, his posture. Yet when he looked at Elfangor, the great Andalite Prince, there was wonder and adulation in his eyes. He must know. I said to myself, though it's impossible. He must know Elfangor is his father. I watched silently as another ship descends and I almost screamed at what came out. Visser Three. The Abomination. No, I thought. Not this. I didn't say anything as he laughed at Elfangor and morphed into a horrible creature. He picked him up and my teeth clenched. Still laughing he dropped him in one of the creature's many mouths.

"Nooooo!" I yelled and began rushing forward. I slammed into an invisible wall. "No!" I shouted again. I banged on the barrier with my fists, wailing. I didn't calm down for a long time. I cursed the Visser, I cursed the Ellimist, and everything else in the world that was wrong. After a while, exhausted, I looked down at the Tobias of this world. He was crying, too. I'm sorry, I told him silently. When the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons came looking in this area, and the five of them ran, I sat still, unable to move. My tears had long gone, but that hole inside me was still there. When everyone, including the Visser, was gone I stood up. I took a shaky breath, it hurt. I shouted up at the sky.

"Is this it?! Is this what you want from me? You want me to choose this?!" I got no reply. Instead, the world around me faded and I appeared somewhere else. I was on a tree branch, somehow I didn't fall. A red-tailed hawk sat next to me. My hawk. The bird morph I use. So this was me in this world. But why was I on a branch instead of in a bed? There was nothing there but a meadow so I couldn't be doing surveillance. Then, I realized the hawk was trying to sleep. I gasped. I was a _nothlit_. I was trapped in hawk morph. This didn't hurt me as much as I'd thought it would. After seeing my father die, I felt kind of numb. But it was more than that. I realized that the Tobias in this world didn't have a happy life as a human. He would prefer being a hawk. Having the ability to fly, to fight the Yeerks, it would seem like a better life. I did feel some pity for him, though. There are disadvantages to not being human. I blinked and we were both somewhere else. A room. A boy slept in a bed. He woke up from the rustling of the hawk's feathers. It was me as well. I was confused. This was obviously the Ellimist's doing, but why? I watched as the hawk flies onto third Tobias's arm and I realized what he was doing. The Ellimist was giving this world's me a chance to be human for two hours at a time. I blinked and I was back in the tree.

 **Are you happy now, Tobias?**

At first I thought the Ellimist was talking to me, but no. It must be the hawk sitting next to me. This must be the conclusion of some deal. This was familiar territory for me; I've been on the receiving end of some of those "agreements" myself.

The world dissolved again and this time I listened as Tobias found out who his father was. I could see the shock he was trying to hide. I saw the tears that didn't leave his eyes. I followed him after he left the building. I sat next to him on the bench as he cried. This brought tears to my eyes as well and so two Tobias' now cried for their fallen hero.

I was in nothingness again. The Ellimist was all around. "How do you expect me to choose that? When I know all that will happen? Why wouldn't you just make me go, like you did Elfangor?"

 **All this already did happen, Tobias. I showed you this so you would know your past. As for why I didn't force you, this situation is different. I didn't put you in this world. Some other entity greater than me allowed this to happen, and for things to return to normal, you need to choose the right path. We do not interfere in the affairs of others. This must be your choice.**

"Well then there's my answer. I won't choose. I'll stay where I am and won't decide."

 **Tobias that world was never meant to be. Even I don't know what the consequences of a situation such as this could be. You need to choose for the greater good of the people of both worlds. I will give you time, Tobias. When you're ready, call for me.**


	18. The Alternate World

I blinked. When I opened my eyes I was back in my bed. In MY home. I jumped out of bed. I started feeling things around the room. It was all real. I was back. I thought at first that it was a dream but then I shook my head. The Ellimist was not a dream. It was only a foolish wish. I heard noises downstairs in the kitchen. Cautiously, I went to see what it was.

I found him in the kitchen, making breakfast. I forgot he did that sometimes. I gasped. It can't be! He died! I ran to him and gave him the biggest hug I could handle, big, fat tears of joy and relief pouring down my face.

"Dad." I sobbed into his neck. He hugged me back, not knowing what upset me, but comforting me all the same. When, finally, I could get some words out, we sat down at the table and talked. I told him of the other world and what the Ellimist had showed me. Dad put his hand over mine when I told him of the other Elfangor. I looked into his eyes, watery like mine, but I saw something there. Something familiar. It was the same thing I saw in him as an Andalite. He looked the same. You could tell who he is in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Tobias." He said when I was done talking. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

I put my head in my arms. "What am I supposed to do, Dad? The Ellimist pretty much said this world is collapsing. He said I'll have to choose. I don't want to. I don't want to go there."

"Tobias." I looked up. I saw love in his eyes and comfort. It helped me relax and feel a little better. "Maybe the Ellimist is right." He said softly.

I started shaking my head. "No." I said, "No, Dad. I won't do that. I won't choose for you to die."

"Tobias, we have to assume the Ellimist is right in saying that this world will not last." He put his hand on my shoulder. "Tobias, I don't want you to go any more than you do, but if this world doesn't survive, it won't matter anyway."

He didn't understand. He didn't know what it felt like. "Dad, you don't understand. You didn't see it. I watched you die. I watched the Visser pick you up and -" I broke off. "How can you ask me to accept that? I won't go to that place. Not without you." I was stubborn, but rightly so. He was asking too much of me. The Ellimist. I couldn't. I wouldn't.

"I would've died sometime anyway, Tobias. At least now you can say goodbye."

I stood up and walked away from the table. "I won't do it, Dad. You can't make me." I said as I stepped out of the room. I caught a glimpse of him with his head in his hands, but I continued up the stairs to my room. I sat on the bed and cried. I hadn't done this since I was little, but I was not ashamed. I needed these tears. The tiny part of me that had accepted my fate thought, that with so little time left, I should spend it with my father, but I ignored it. I wanted to think I had a whole lifetime with him ahead of me. I didn't know how much time passed, but when I opened my eyes, it was dark outside. I must've fallen asleep. I saw that I was under the covers. I didn't remember doing that. I heard the door open. It was my dad. He came close to me and kissed me on the forehead. He sat by my bed and told me a story from his people, like he used to when I was a kid. It was a story of pain and loss, but also of hope and happiness. It filled me with warmth. I wanted to hold on to this moment. To have it forever. He finished his story and leaned close to me to whisper in my ear.

"You will never lose me, Tobias. No matter what. I will always be near. And as long as you know that, you need not be afraid. I love you, Tobias."

"I love you, Dad." I whispered back. He gave me one last kiss on the forehead and left the room. I didn't hold on. I've let him go. I've decided. I didn't fully know yet, but I've decided. And it felt okay. Like the aftermath of a warm breeze. I enjoyed the moment while it lasted. The Ellimist moved me in my sleep, and when I woke up, everything had changed.


	19. The Revelation

Yet none of that was possible. My relationship with Ax here, though close, was not on the level I wanted it to be on to be able to talk to him about Elfangor. Even more so, in this world, my only knowledge of him was when I met him. When he...died.

In the end, I elected not to say anything. I felt it would only bring more pain to me, and confusion to Aximili. However, it seemed the choice was taken away from me.

One night, I sat on Rachel's windowsill, talking to her. I saw worry in her eyes I didn't understand. I knew she cared for me, but this seemed more than usual. When a pause in the conversation turned into a long silence, I began to become wary. Was there something she wanted to tell me? I asked her so.

She was silent for a moment before blurting, "What happened to you, Tobias?"

I was a little taken aback. I didn't understand. "What do you mean?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't pretend you don't know. It's like one day, you woke up and changed. I know you like being by yourself, but come on, Tobias; this is getting ridiculous. You know I'm here for you, you don't have to be afraid to speak to me."

 _No._ I thought, sighing. Now that I realized what she was saying, I stiffened, trying to block out my emotions. I could not talk about this. I wouldn't. She couldn't make me tell her the thing I'd been avoiding for so long. I'm not afraid. I said.

"Then why won't you tell me what's wrong?"

Nothing's wrong. I whispered.

"Come on, Tobias!" Realizing she might have been too loud, she paused to listen if anyone had woken up, but I could hear the house was still silent. She continued in a lower tone. "I know you Tobias, something's bothering you. I can see you're hurting, and you don't want to let it out. But if you don't, it will continue to grow until it consumes and destroys you."

I sighed. Her logic was sound, but still. I can't tell you. I said, quietly.

"Why not?" The care in her voice touched me. On top of all the confusion and pity telling her would bring, my biggest reason for not sharing was my fear. Ever since I came here, I'd been avoiding talking about my dad. How I loved him, how much I missed him. If I told her now, all I'd bottled up with in me would explode, and I wasn't sure if I'd survive.

Rachel, please don't.

"I want to help you." She pleaded.

You can't! I screamed, unable to take it anymore. You can't understand, no one can! You can't help me. This was it. I had breached my wall and there was no going back. I felt a lump in my throat, but no tears came. In my hawk body I had no release. Hopping down from the windowsill to the floor, I began to change. When the morph was complete, I lay curled up in my human body on the floor, great wracking sobs shaking my body. As I cried I began to whisper to my father out loud.

"Dad..." I breathed through my tears, "Dad...I miss you...Dad." I could not stop shaking. Rachel slid down from her bed to sit next to me, and began stroking my hair with her fingers. My whispers were too quiet for her to hear, but she knew I was not alright. She did not tell me it was okay, since she knew it wasn't and she didn't tell me she could help, since she wasn't sure she could. When I finally stopped shaking, she whispered in my ear,

"Tell me."

I had no strength left to argue. She'd been right. All my pain had been bottled up, and now that it was free, the only way to deal with it would be to tell her. "It's my father." I said.

I'd told her who my father really was, all the Animorphs knew, but she was still confused. She let me continue, however, remaining silent until I did. I told her about my life. How I'd been raised by my parents, my mother's sacrifice, my father forming the Animorphs. She kept silent throughout my story, wondering how it could be true, but letting me finish. I got to the part with the Ellimist and stopped. So far, all I'd said had simply reminded me of my father. The pain had just been about missing him, the feeling of wishing for something I'd once had. This was different. I could not bring myself to tell her what I'd seen. I did not have to.

"The Ellimist showed me..." I'd stopped, but she continued for me.

"The Ellimist showed you your father's death." She whispered. I gave her no confirmation of that fact, yet she needed none. She knew I was in a lot of pain.

Once it was out there, without me having had to say it, I was able to continue. I told her the other things the Ellimist'd shown me, and finally, my decision to leave. She made no comment when I was done, perhaps since she knew nothing would suffice. But before the end of the night, I was feeling much better. We said nothing else to each other that night, not until – back in my hawk form – I stepped outside on the ledge ready to fly out, and she said,

"Goodnight, Tobias." I nodded to her and flew away.

After that, it was not much harder to tell Ax. I did it the next day. It was easier than I'd assumed it would be. The one part was the Ellimist. I knew how the Andalites felt about him. I was also scared that Ax would be angry with me, thinking I was comparing him to something, or trying to take his brother away from him, which I wasn't. I couldn't have been further from the truth. Ax's only response to my story was comfort and sympathy. He even gave me a hug, something I had wanted from him since I'd arrived here. When I had prepared for the worst, the love of my best friend, and the girl I cared for had shown me how much I was cared for, and how even here, I would never be alone.


	20. The Voyage

**A/N: Hey, so this may be a bit confusing, but I wrote this part before most of my fanfic, and i couldn't change it to fit it in here. It's about Tobias going to the Andalite homeworld to meet his grandparents. It's written from the point of view of the Tobias from the series (one who hasn't met his father), but I mostly left it like this since it would be waaay to hard to have Tobias explain how he exists AND that he's from a different world at the same time, so I decided to leave it like this. Hope you like it and don't find it too confusing.**

It wasn't long after the war. I'd spent hours wrestling with the decision I faced every day. Rachel continuously pushed me to join her, to become fully human to be with her. I know she says this because she loves me and I love her too but I still wasn't sure I could make the transition. For so long, I thought of my body as that of a hawk, for that was what it was and I'd come to accept it. Of course there were many times when I enjoyed being human. When walking on the beach with Rachel, holding hands, for example, or when kissing her. Both are things I couldn't do as a hawk, but the decision still plagued me. The others never understood. They would always be _able_ to morph, even if there was no more war. For me, if I became human, I'd be giving that up forever, never to fly again. I _wasn't_ ready to give up my wings. I still wasn't used to walking all the time. Going human _permanently?_ That would be very hard. I still wrestled with my decision every time it was brought up.

I wasn't always a hawk, though. I spent the better part of my days with Rachel, demorphing and remorphing when necessary. One day, when walking with Rachel, we passed by Jake's house. He and Tom were shooting hoops in the driveway, laughing and joking around. Tom pushed Jake out of the way to take a shot and scored. Jake fell back and after celebrating his victory, Tom helped him up and brushed him off. They were both still laughing.

"I always was better than you." Said Tom triumphantly.

"Oh yeah, well how about this!" Jake replied, aiming a punch at Tom's stomach. In a few minutes, Tom had Jake in a headlock and was giving him a massive noogie, while Jake pleaded for mercy. "That enough for you, Midget?" Tom laughed a fake evil laugh.

In the middle of this happening, Rachel decided to step in. Until this point we had been standing by the sidewalk, enjoying the brotherly atmosphere. I guess at this point Rachel decided she should intervene.

"Hey Cuz," she said, walking up to them. I followed closely behind her. "How ya doin'?"

Both her cousins stopped their fighting and looked at Rachel then at each other. "Which one of us are you talking to?" Tom asked.

"I think it's _obvious_ she's talking to me." Jake replied. "We both know she likes me better than you."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that Jake. I remember a few times when I was pretty ticked off at you, O Fearless Leader. I'm pretty sure I would've liked Tom to lead us instead of you."

All of a sudden, a look of anguish came across Tom's face. He stumbled backwards, visibly weakened by something.

Jake immediately was there to help him up. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice full of concern. Tom shook his head. He sank down to the ground and began to cry. Both Jake and Rachel bent down to him and started talking to him soothingly. I came closer as well, but stayed standing and just put a hand on Rachel's back to tell her I was there. Tom was muttering to himself as he rocked back and forth on the ground.

Finally he looked up into Jake's face. For a long time no one said anything at all. Then Tom uttered two words, "I'm sorry." Immediately, Jake understood what he meant and looked like he was about to cry himself.

"We've been over this, Tom." He said, soothingly. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't do anything."

"I could've fought harder, I could've done something."

"I know what it's like Tom, you did everything you could."

"I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you; seeing me every day, knowing I was your enemy. When I found out it was you I was fighting, I was proud. I was scared and never hated the Yeerks more, but I was proud that you were fighting, that you were winning. And I knew that you would one day set me free. But before that, I hated the Yeerk inside me. After all the horrible things he made me do—" He broke down in sobs. Jake was crying openly now as well and when I looked at Rachel's face, I saw tears there too. The sight unnerved me. Crying, was something Rachel seldom did, it was one of the things I loved about her; how strong she was.

Seeing tears on her face meant she needed some serious comfort. I sank down next to Rachel, pulled her close to me and we held each other for what seemed like a long time. I was surprised to find tears on my face as well. I still wasn't used to all things human, and crying was one of them. Jake continued trying to comfort Tom.

Tom continued talking. "The hardest thing he ever made me do was the last thing he did before releasing his hold on me. When I saw him fall back; when I opened my eyes on my own for the first time in so long, only to see my father die was unbearable. I wanted to kill myself. You think I blame Mom for not wanting to see my face? I'm lucky I at least have you. And you Rachel."

Rachel lifted her face from my shoulder to look at him. She smiled and my heart skipped a few beats. Rachel smiling was a beautiful thing. "Always." She put a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry for bringing this up. I know it hurts to talk about."

"It's okay. No major harm done." He got up and went to get the fallen basketball. "Let's continue playing. I think we have enough time for me to cream you one more time before the barbeque, Jake."

The rest of us got up as well. "Wait, you still go to the Sharing?" Rachel asked, incredulous. Even after all the Yeerks were gone, the Sharing still existed. There were too many members who were innocent people, ignorant of what the Sharing really was. So, it survived, with more people joining every day. It finally became all that it was supposed to be all along. A place for people to connect and be together as a family. A few, whose Yeerks hadn't had that much power, joined the Sharing, determined to forget their experiences during their "enslavement" and get on with their lives, knowing the Sharing would help them. Most, however, left, too traumatized by what happened to them to relive memories by going to the Sharing.

After all Tom went through, I'd have expected him to not want to remember as well. As we clearly saw.

"It's my girlfriend," he answered Rachel's question, "she's a recent member and she loves it. Most of the things she does are with the Sharing, so it's not like I can just not go, but she makes me go anyway, so it doesn't really make a difference. I actually enjoy it, though, which I didn't expect; it really does what it's supposed to. It makes you feel part of a really big family that does things together. Most importantly, I have fun, without remembering unpleasant things. I'm glad that I go. It's great." Tom smiled at another thought. "And the barbeques are just _soooo_ good." Jake smiled with him. "Anyway," Tom continued, "I have to get ready and so do _you._ " He pointed at Jake.

"What are you doing tonight?" I asked. Tom put an arm around Jake's shoulder.

"He has a date with Cassie tonight." He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. Rachel and I laughed, as Jake undraped Tom's arm from his neck.

"It's just a date." He said, indignantly.

"I bet you'll be all over each other in five minutes." Rachel said.

"I bet two." Countered Tom. Jake fake stormed off into the house. Tom chuckled and looked back at Rachel and me. "You take care," he said. Rachel waved as we moved on.

I gripped her hand tightly in mine, as we walked on.

Suddenly, she stopped and faced me. "I'm in the mood of flying." I smiled. I was in the mood too. As nice as it was to be human, I was still much more comfortable as a hawk, besides, my time as a human was almost up, for now.

A few minutes later, we were flying side by side; a red-tailed hawk and a bald eagle, with barely the length of my wingspan between us. Gone were the days where we stayed far from each other to avoid attention. Now we could fly as close to each other as we pleased. I realized that we were getting close to my old meadow. I no longer lived there; I spent most of my nights perched on the tree outside Rachel's house or at the Hork-Bajir valley in the mountains. As we flew over my old home, I saw a familiar flash of blue.

Hey, is that Ax? I asked Rachel.

Ax? What is _he_ doing here? We turned and flew closer.

Ax-man! What's up, what brings you back to Earth? He looked up, spotted us and waved. Then, I heard his familiar voice in my head.

Tobias. We need to talk. Privately.

I relayed the message to Rachel. She seemed a little miffed by it, so I added, He's going to be here for a few days anyway; I doubt he came all this way for a couple of hours, he _is_ a Prince after all. I don't even know what this is about. I'll tell you about it later, okay? She sighed, but it satisfied her. She flew off, and I dived down to where Ax waited.

I landed behind a clump of bushes and emerged as an Andalite. I was an exact replica of the Andalite I was walking towards, but he seemed not to mind. I wanted to greet my _shorm_ and uncle in a form that he recognized, and he seemed to understand. Besides, it was really cool and I had a wicked tail.

Hello, Aximili. I greeted him formally, as we met on the grass of the meadow.

Hello Tobias. he replied, taking a deep breath and beginning. I was at home, on leave, when I started thinking.

About what? I asked.

Earth mostly. Almost all of it was us Animorphs and our many battles. But then my thoughts went to before and I thought of Elfangor. We were both silent for what seemed like a long time, and as always when thinking of my father, my eyes filled with tears. Even though, I never really knew him, I felt I understood at least a part of him, from his letter, which I hold dear, but also from his brother, my uncle Ax. But that wasn't what made me cry. It was that moment seared in my brain, when Visser Three murdered the greatest warrior I've ever known, moments after I met him.

So what did you come up with? I asked.

Soon, Ax continued, it will be the anniversary of my brother's death, and I thought of my parents. Two years later, they are still looking for something of Elfangor. I don't blame them. The whole Andalite world grieved his death, but I thought they would get on with their lives. They don't know who you are, so I was thinking, maybe you can meet them. He said the last part quickly; like it was some great burden he wanted to let go of. I could see that this was something he had practiced over and over, to get the right wording. He clearly wanted an answer, but I wasn't sure I was ready to give one. It was something huge to think about. I'd always wanted to visit the Andalite homeworld, but now I felt that if I went I'd feel even more like I don't belong, since I'd have something to prove, or whatever. I looked at Ax, and saw something in his eyes. Whatever this was, it meant a lot to him, I could see that. So I stepped closer and took his hand.

I'll go with you, I said, I'll follow you home.

The next day, it was all of us gathered together in Animorph Barn. Cassie no longer lived with her parents and had opened up a rehabilitation center of her own. Although it was a different building, in a different location, it felt strangely like home, or at least very comforting. We hadn't gathered all together to make plans - any kinds, not only for battles – in a long time. Everyone led different lives, but it was especially hard for Ax to come, most likely since he lived light years away. But now, it was happening again. After all the greetings and hugs we settled down to talk business.

Last night, Ax had told me not to tell anyone of our conversation, so I'd persuaded Rachel to wait until tomorrow for me to tell her what happened.

"So Ax," Jake began, "Why have you come to Earth?"

I have come on a diplomatic mission from my world, Prince Jake. he replied. Jake sighed and mumbled something like "told him a million times." I think Jake is secretly proud when Ax calls him that. Since I am the only Andalite Prince experienced in all things Earth, I was appointed as minister of all Andalite-Human interactions, including world visits. one of his stalk eyes turned towards me, and I heard his silent request. I nodded unobtrusively, and agreed with him. We wouldn't be discussing _my_ reason for leaving Earth. Recently many humans have been complaining that more than a few Andalites have been visiting Earth, but it hasn't gone the other way. People want to visit the Andalite home world and our government has decided to allow it. Different scientists and a few civilians will be allowed to travel there, for a few weeks. I was asked to escort them, and although I won't be their guide, they will be _my_ responsibility.

"So what does this have to do with us?" Marco asked.

I have already spoken to your government and the passengers are ready. I came to you because I wanted to know if any of you were interested in coming with us. You will be pleased to know that that was not my only purpose for coming to you. I admit that I miss being with all of you. You became my family for the short while - though it seemed long at the time - that we were together. The others smiled a little and Rachel looked at her feet. I smiled as well, though it could not be seen.

"We'll enjoy your company, Ax," Prince Jake – sorry Jake said, "As for your question, I'd like to go-"

"Uh, uh," Cassie interrupted, folding her arms. "You're going to stay here. I'm not going to that event alone." Rachel and Marco laughed.

Marco stage whispered. "Busted. Guess you're not getting out of going."

"I was _going_ to say," Jake protested, "that I'd like to but I can't because I have duties to attend to."

Anyone else? Ax inquired.

Cassie obviously couldn't go, she was way too busy. I doubt Marco would want to visit a people with little to no sense of humor, and I knew Rachel had no interests in leaving Earth. I spoke into the silence that followed Ax's question.

I want to go. Everyone looked at me. Rachel was especially asking me something with her eyes. I answered her privately, Yes. This is what last night was about. Please don't say anything, I promise I'll tell you everything.

"Are you sure Tobias?" Jake asked, looking out for me as usual.

Yes. I answered, looking straight at him.

Good. Ax said, we'll be leaving in five days. Until then, I was hoping I would be able to spend time with each of you. I wish also to go to the mall. I have missed the taste of the cinnamon bun as well as chocolate.

Marco laughed. "Tomorrow I'll take you to the food court and give you the works." Then, we all said goodbye and went our separate ways.

I followed Rachel home. A few minutes before she would get there, I flew ahead and morphed human. When she arrived, she found me leaning against the tree in her yard, smirking. My hawk face can't show emotion, so I usually have to remember to show facial expressions, and this time, I was glad that I did. When Rachel saw me, she ran towards me arms outstretched. I caught her and wrapped my arms around her as we embraced.

Finally, she broke away from the kiss. "Are you going to tell me _now?_ " I nodded. We walked around to the back of her house, where, under the tree I perched in most nights, there was a swing. We sat down and I put one arm over Rachel's shoulder.

"Last night," I began, "Ax requested something of me." I looked deep into her blue eyes and continued. "It's soon going to be the anniversary of Elfangor's death, so Ax wanted me to meet his parents." Rachel drew in a breath. "I know, it's something huge, and I'm not sure it's something I'm ready for, but I _do_ know that it's something, I _have_ to do."

Rachel laid her head on my shoulder. "I'll miss you." I was surprised. I didn't expect this from her.

"You think I should go?"

She lifted her head to look at me. "Yes. I think it's important to Ax, or his parents, or maybe even to you, so you have to go."

"Thank you. For being so understanding." Then I took her face in my hands and said, "I love you." Her eyes widened and then she kissed me like she'd never kissed me before. I held the girl I loved for close to two hours, then I demorphed, she went inside, and I settled on my perch for the night.

Five days later, after more than two dozen cinnamon buns and whatnot, Ax, about fourteen other passengers and I climbed aboard _The Cruiser_ ready for the travel to the Andalite home world.

A few months later, we arrived. I flew out of that cramped spaceship to the fresh air and immediately gained altitude. After so much time being locked in one room, I needed to stretch my wings.

Tobias. Ax called to me. I looked down. I was above a big meadow surrounded with trees. Ax was on the edge of these trees, stalk eyes facing upward. I flew down and settled on the lowest branch of one of the trees, close to where Ax was waiting.

I don't want to waste time, he said we came here for a purpose and I'd like to see it done quickly.

I flew down and morphed human. "I hope you don't mind," I said, "but I'd like to meet your parents this way. It's what I was born as, and what Elfangor was when he was on Earth."

Ax nodded I understand Tobias. He led the way to his home. We passed many scoops on the way. They looked like sophisticated tents without roofs. Finally, we arrived. I knew because of the female Andalite that came forward and embraced Ax.

Aximili, you're home! Ax broke off and looked at me. Tobias, you remember Estrid, right? "Yeah. Hi. I guess you changed your mind about liking her, huh Ax?" Ax looked as sheepish as an Andalite could. We continued to Ax's parents' scoop, which was not that far away. I stopped a few feet before the house. I realized my heart was racing ad wanted to calm down before I met my grandparents. Tobias? Ax asked.

"I just need a minute." Ax came toward me. He put his hands on my shoulders and spoke to me in a reassuring voice.

It's going to be okay Tobias, you'll see. I took a deep breath and followed him to the edge of the scoop. There I waited for Ax's parents to appear. Ax had told me that the anniversary of Elfangor's death would be in a few days and wanted me to have already met his parents by then. They came out and I was completely unprepared.

Ax's father was what I would imagine an older Elfangor would look like. Nothing about Ax's mother was familiar, but she had an atmosphere that I recognized. I could tell she was kind, just like my father. They, too, were surprised, though I'm sure this was due to the fact that a human was in their Scoop.

Ax stepped forward toward his parents. Father, Mother, this is Tobias. Tobias, these are my parents, Noorlin-Sirinial-Cooraf and Forlay-Esgarrouth-Maheen.

Aximili. We're glad you were able to come home, but what is this human doing here? If he's here with the rest of his group, why isn't he with them? His father replied. I saw Ax fidget from one foot to the other.

Father, Tobias isn't here for the same reason as the other humans. I have asked him to come here. He faced his entire family. This is about Elfangor. There was but a gasp in the silence that followed. I looked down at the ground. As much of a reaction his name made for us Animorphs, on Earth, it was tenfold here.

What do you mean exactly?

I'm sorry, Estrid. I didn't tell you everything. You know what Tobias is, but you don't know _who_ he is.

What are you talking about, Aximili? His mother this time.

Tobias is one of the humans that were part of the resistance on Earth.

We deduced _that,_ Aximili but what does this have to do with Elfangor, besides for the part with the _Escafil device_?

"What this has to do with Elfangor, is that I saw him die." I decided it was time for me to speak as I looked up. There were tears on my face. I hadn't been this reminded of Elfangor since his letter and I feared it was too much. The others' surprise at my voice faded as they saw the tears and processed what I had actually said. The surprise then turned to respect and finally to shared sadness. I decided to continue. I wanted to get it out as quickly as possible so I spoke bluntly. "I'm Elfangor's son."

The surprise quickly came back, but this time with disbelief.

How is that-

Please, Mother, let him explain. interjected Ax. I knew I could expect silence until the very end. Andalites were known for their patience. I asked Ax privately how much time I had left. He told me, Enough. I started talking.

I began with Elfangor meeting my mom. I didn't know the whole story, so I kept it short but the rest I did know. I told them of how growing tired of the war, he had come to earth, seeking peace. When I said that he became a nothlit, there were a few gasps cut short, but I hadn't expected anything else. Then I got up to the part with the Ellimist and paused. I didn't know how to approach this. I knew the Ellimist was a touchy spot with Andalites. I decided I couldn't avoid it and forged on. I recounted how the Ellimist explained Elfangor's duty to him, and made him leave with an unborn child in his wife's stomach. The tears wouldn't stop now, but I let them fall. My father deserved those tears. His life was cut short; he never knew his son and he thought he failed in his duty. But, I've never been prouder of being his son. I had spoken the last few sentences with my head bent, and when I looked up, I saw no dry face. Even though it was incredibly sad, I found it beautiful that two species that were so different, could be so much the same.

All of a sudden, as I caught my grandfather's eye, he came forward and put his arms on my shoulders. He smiled an Andalite smile through his tears. I am proud that you are Elfangor's son. I have heard many things about humans and unfortunately not all of them are good. But you show great courage and loyalty and if there was anybody to carry on Elfangor's legacy; I'm glad it's you.

I nodded my head. It was all I could do. I'd gone over so many scenarios in my head but this one had never crossed my mind. It was more than I could ever hope for.

Suddenly, Ax's voice sounded in my head. Tobias! You only have four minutes left in morph! I apologize, I wasn't paying attention to the time.

It's okay Ax. I wiped my eyes. "Excuse me." I said, stepping back and beginning to demorph. The Andalites around me, excluding Ax, stepped back.

Why is the boy morphing? Noorlin asked.

Because this is my true form. I answered, fully hawk. I spread my wings and flew I did a few circles before settling down on a log.

Forlay was very quick and caught on fast. More of the Ellimist? she inquired.

Yes, and I'll explain how. The first mission my friends and I had, I was in a tough spot and became a nothlit. There was less reaction this time, although I did get a few sympathetic looks. Some time later, the Ellimist needed my help with something and in return gave me back my morphing power, along with allowing me to acquire my own DNA so I can be my human self for two Earth hours at a time.

But why didn't you ask to be human? Or if that wasn't a choice, why not choose to be your human self forever? asked Ax's mother, on the ball again.

My life as a human sucked. I replied, with no self-pity whatsoever. I was shipped back and forth across the country between my drunken uncle, and my aunt who wanted nothing to do with me. I was bullied in school and didn't have anything going for me. My life as a hawk was much better, in my standards. I was free and I got to do something I believed in and thought was important.

Noorlin nodded his head. But now the war is over, and I'm certain you're old enough to provide for yourself, why don't you become fully human?

I'm not used to being human. I answered truthfully. I don't know if you noticed, being Andalites, but I don't usually make facial expressions, which is strange for humans. I have been a hawk so long; it feels strange for me to act human. I'm also not ready to give up my wings. Whenever I'm human I feel heavy and I want to fly.

My grandfather approached me again, and held out his arm. I hopped on and gripped as lightly as possible. Do you have friends on Earth that you care about? Would you not want to join them completely?

My thoughts turned immediately to Rachel. I could imagine exactly what she would've said in response to that. She would've agreed with him completely. I really thought about it for the first time. A hawk's lifespan is not that long; I wouldn't live much more than five years. I thought about all the things I wanted with Rachel and how I couldn't have them if I wasn't fully human. Then, I made my decision.

I hopped off my grandfathers' arm, and morphed my human self. I sat down on the log, and talked with my grandparents and uncle for two hours.

Finally, Ax said, Tobias, your two hours are up. The tears started up again, but not from regret, from relief. A great burden had just been lifted from my chest. I smiled. Everything would be changing, and I couldn't wait to see Rachel again.

A few weeks later, I did. Somehow the trip was shorter on the way back and the moment the hatch door opened and I saw her, I ran towards her, threw my arms around her and swore to myself that I would never let go. She was a bit surprised from this but returned the greeting in kind.

"Let's take a walk on the beach." I suggested.

"Don't you want to fly?" she asked. I shook my head. I wouldn't tell her. I wanted her to figure it out by herself.

I took her hand. "We can't do _this_ as birds." I reasoned. She put her head on my shoulder as we took a long watch on the beach. We watched the sun go down over the water and as the last bit of light disappeared, Rachel turned to me as if she just realized something.

"Tobias? How long have you been in morph?"

"About a few weeks." I answered dryly. It took a few moments for that to settle in. When it did, I saw tears well up in Rachel's eyes. I put my hand to her cheek and stroked her face.

"Tobias." She whispered. I pulled her to me and gave her the biggest hug I could give. Even when it ended, we held on to each other as we walked to her house where we spent the night next to each other in her bed.


	21. The Return

**A/N: So this is it. The part I've been waiting for. I think my entire fanfic boils down to these next parts. I know it's a bit choppy, filled with scenes and not a lot of story, but this was mostly written as a way to get out all I wanted between Tobias and Elfangor. It makes me feel really good, and I hope it will do the same for you. Happy reading!**

The war was finally over. I now spent most of my time with Rachel and my mom. I'd started going to school again, taking classes online, so I'd be able to go to university. The Animorphs no longer hung out as a group, but we would always be close. The world still tried to get us to expose ourselves, but we were happy with anonymity. We – well the others more than me – still occasionally got recognized and had to deal with the attention, but for the most part, we led normal lives. It helped that we hadn't ever been famous. Instead of constantly being reminded of that time, we got to move on with our lives. Nothing would ever be as it was, yet it seemed that finally everything would be ok.

Except for one thing. I started missing my dad again. I'd never really stopped thinking about him, yet while the war was going on, I felt more of a connection to him. Now that was gone too. And more than that, Ax had gone home. My last connection to my Andalite father was gone.

I thought about him a lot. My mother doesn't remember him, which saddens me. I grew up with them; I knew how much they loved each other. All I want now though, is to be able to live my life in peace, like my father wanted. I had thought that although there were some things I had lost, I couldn't be happier in my life. But that all changed.

I was walking home from Rachel's, taking a shortcut through the woods, when I heard the rustling of leaves. I turned, but there was no one there. I heard the sound again and followed it.

"Hello?" I asked, out loud. If there was someone there, I wanted to see them. The figure stepped into view, and I started. It wasn't strange to see an Andalite here, just unusual. There were many an Andalite at one time on this planet, but never in this area and never alone. I came closer to see if I recognized him and gasped, stopping in my tracks. He noticed me as well and stiffened. I was frozen in place, unable to move. The face, it was one from my dreams. It couldn't be here. I'd only seen it the once, when I'd watched him die, but I'd never forget the face of my father. _He can't be here,_ my head told me. _This is a trick. Oh please let it be him,_ my heart cried. I stepped forward slowly.

Dad? I asked, tentatively.

Tobias. I heard softly in my mind. It was him. This was real. It could've been a trap, he wasn't supposed to be alive, but I didn't care. All I knew was that my father was, once again, before me. Without thinking, I reacted.

"Dad!" I cried, and ran to him, tears stinging my eyes. I almost hit a tree, not being able to see very well through my tears, but I didn't care. I barreled into him, almost knocking him off his feet, clutching him tight. "Dad!" I sobbed into his chest.

Tobias. He said again, wrapping his arms around me. They were weak, but he squeezed as hard as he could. I could feel him crying silently in my mind. Yes, this was him; I had no doubts at all. I squeezed him a little harder. Finally, I let go a little and looked into his face. He put his hands on my shoulders to look at me.

You're older. He said. I nodded, unable to speak. How long Tobias? He asked.

"What do you mean?" I looked into his eyes, full of compassion.

How long was the war? How long were you fighting for?

I looked at the ground. "I can't remember. It was so long. I think about four years though. At least."

My father's eyes became sad. Oh, Tobias. I'm sorry to have brought this burden on you.

"It's alright, Father. I was proud to fight. I fought in your name, it wasn't your fault."

I put my arms around him again. After a long pause, my father said, Tobias?

I looked up. I waited for him to finish. It took a while, but then he said slowly, You're not from here, are you?

I shook my head. "But you remember me, don't you? Before you died."

He nodded his head and I breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, I remember you. The child I raised. The one who knew me and thought me a good father.

"You were only ever a good father. I missed you, Dad." I said.

I missed you too, Tobias. I've always wished we'd had more time. And now, miraculously, it seems we do.

I stepped back a little to survey my father in full. "But Dad, how did you survive?"

He shook his head. I don't know, son. But it was a blessing that I did, let's just leave it at that. No need to dwell on the past. I knew what he meant. All that mattered was that he was alive. After I was saved from the Visser, I hid in a cave, not far from here. I ran daily, for nourishment, but otherwise stayed out of sight. I knew I could not be discovered until after the war was over. I had no idea how much time had passed, I just waited for it to be over. When I knew it was, I was able to leave the cave. I have only been out a few weeks. I did not want to just turn up in the city, which is why I'm so glad you found me.

He smiled that Andalite smile, and I returned one of my own. I was so happy in this moment; it seemed there was nothing that could hurt me now. However, my father's next words cut me like a knife.

Tobias? He asked. What of your mother?

I looked at the ground. I hadn't expected this, but now, realized I should have. "She's fine." I replied. "I saved her from the Yeerks."

But what happened to her? He asks. Something must have happened for her not to have raised you. I know she wouldn't just abandon you.

I shuffled my feet a little as I tell him what she told me. "She was in an accident. She lost most of her memory and had to be taught everything again. She became blind and forgot all about me. Once I rescued her, we gave her the morphing ability so she could see again. This might have triggered something, because she started to remember me again. I moved in with her once I was fully human." I stopped.

And what about me? Does she miss me? Did you tell her I was dead? The heartbreak in his voice killed me. I knew how hard it must have been for him to leave her; I couldn't bear to tell him the truth now that he could get her back. But I had to; he deserved to hear it.

"She doesn't remember you, Dad." I told him quietly. "The Ellimist took all memory of you away. She has no idea who my father is." The tears slipped down my cheeks as I looked my father in the eye.

He stumbled a bit and I could see the anguish on his face. "I'm so sorry, Father."

It's alright, Tobias. It's not your fault. It's mine, for leaving her.

"That's not fair!" I cried. "You didn't have a choice!"

Nevertheless, I shall take the blame He said, ever the virtuous warrior. I love my father, but I wished he wasn't so hard on himself. He's so much greater than he gave himself credit for. I would like to see her, Tobias.

I looked at him, thinking. I didn't know how to respond to that. I should be happy, having both my parents alive and well. But I was a bit wary. I wasn't worried about my father's intentions, only what they might do to my mother. She doesn't remember him, and he'd want to tell her the truth. I didn't want her to be confused. However, one thing I know is, when my father's mind is set on something, there is no changing it. I nodded.

"I'll bring you to her." I told him. He thanked me, and we followed the path out of the woods together, side by side. I couldn't say I was completely disappointed. All I'd wanted for a long time was for my parents to be together again.

It didn't take long to get home; I'd already walked halfway there when I'd stopped in the woods. I used my key and opened the door, stepping inside. Elfangor waited politely on the porch.

"Mom?" I called. "I'm home!" I heard noises in the kitchen; Mom's probably getting dinner ready.

"I'm in here, sweetheart." I turned to see my father in the open doorway, looking strangely uncomfortable. I gave him a reassuring smile and gestured with my hand for him to come in. He did so, slowly, his leg shaking slightly as he stepped into the house. _He's scared,_ I realized. The idea was laughable to me. My father was the bravest man I have ever known. I had no idea how hard this would be for him.

"Tobias?" My mom calls. I heard the sounds in the kitchen stop.

"I'm here, Mom. I brought a visitor." I didn't say who yet, but my heart pounded in anticipation of the moment.

"Oh, how nice. Hold on, I'm coming." I waited with my father, both of us tense, as my mother prepared herself to come meet this "stranger." The moment she came into view, I feel my father's surprise beside me.

She's so beautiful. I heard in my mind. I looked away from my mom, slightly, in embarrassment. My mom's reaction to Elfangor was the polar opposite. She started in surprise, yet recovered easily enough, putting a smile on her face.

"Forgive me; I just didn't expect any visitors today, let alone any Andalites." She held out a hand. "I'm Loren. Human, of Earth." She said, a smile on her lips.

Elfangor, having gotten over his initial shock, took her hand in a firm grip.

I am Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul. He said. Andalite. His eyes twinkled with a smile. But through his graciousness, I could feel a pain cut straight through him. No matter how much you prepare yourself, you're never prepared. My father hadn't been prepared, that much was clear. It hurt that she didn't recognize him, I saw that, and it broke my heart that I couldn't do anything.

My mother started at the name, however. "Elfangor? You mean the Andalite who..."

Dad nodded. I was the one who gave the Animorphs the morphing power.

On the way home, Elfangor had asked me how much Loren knew of him. I told him she knew of the construction site, but nothing of his past. Kind of like the rest of the Animorphs.

"How are you alive?" My mom covered her mouth. "Oh, forgive me. That was rude."

No apology necessary. Fortunately, I was able to escape that untimely end and was in hiding until now.

"And now that it's safe...?"

My dad and I had discussed this on the way here. I would need some excuse to spend time with him without Mom being suspicious.

Since Andalites have been coming to Earth to learn of human customs, there are those who have similarly wanted to learn more of Andalite culture and society. In my solitude the past few weeks, I have kept in touch with my people via a transponder I had made. I have found that I feel I do not belong in Andalite society anymore. After all that has happened to me as a result of and during the war, I feel I do not want to return to that life. I have no place there anymore. I have decided to stay on Earth instead. I knew part of this was true. My dad did feel that he belonged more with humans than his own people, and – besides for Mom and I – was the reason he'd decided to stay. After learning of this course where Andalites teach humans of our culture, I found that Tobias had sent in an application. Loren looked at me strangely.

"You didn't tell me you signed up for anything."

I fidgeted a little. "Well, it was a last minute decision. I also didn't expect to be accepted; I'd honestly forgotten about it."

Elfangor smiled at me with his eyes. I saw your son's application and simply had to become his teacher. He continued. I had met him only once before, but I had seen such greatness in him, and after the war, I felt he only deserved for me to teach him about myself, to repay him for what he'd done. I looked down, understanding what he was trying to tell me. When he'd seen me at the construction site, he'd seen all that could have been, the "greatness" of him having raised me. And now, he would teach me what it would be like to live with him again. He would teach me the ways of being his son.

Thank you, Father. I whispered in thought-speak to him. He couldn't nod, but I felt his acknowledgement.

I met Tobias again, today, telling him I would be his teacher. I simply dropped by to see his mother, whom I've heard so much about. He stepped back a little and shook his head. I must say, he did not do you justice. You're so much more beautiful than he described. I almost shook my head at my father for his blatancy, but I couldn't blame him.

My mother blushed. "Thank you. That is very kind of you." She smiled. A ding came from the kitchen, and surprise lit up her face. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "I apologize, but dinner is almost ready, I have to take the food out of the oven." She turned, but then stopped and turned back. "Would you like to join us for dinner?"

Elfangor shook his head. Thank you for the offer, but I have duties to attend to tonight. Perhaps another time.

Alright, then. Just know you're always welcome. My mother went into the kitchen to deal with the food.

"I'll walk Elfangor out!" I called. I walked with my father to the door. Once we were outside, I gave him the biggest hug he can handle.

That didn't go as badly as I thought it would. My father said. He tried to sound lighthearted, but I heard the pain in his voice.

"Are you ok, Dad?" I asked.

He put a hand on my shoulder. Yes, Tobias. I'm fine.

All I wanted was for him to stay, but I knew he couldn't. I wouldn't be able to see him again until tomorrow. Do you have a place to stay? I asked him.

Yes. I will be fine tonight, Tobias. Don't worry about me. I'll see you tomorrow.

He drew me close one last time before saying goodbye. I watched him walk down the street, all alone and I wanted to cry. However, I had to go inside, put a smile on my face for my mother and eat dinner.


	22. Elfangor

A/N: Just FYI, I'm naming this chapter, Elfangor, just cause we haven't seen him in a while. Personally, I'm thrilled to have him back. Only a few parts left! Enjoy!

I have spent the last two months "getting to know" Loren. Tobias' mother. The love of my life. That first meeting was hard. It hurt that she didn't remember me. But seeing her alive, and smiling and happy helped ease the pain. Now I'd just have to get her to fall in love with me again. I knew it wouldn't be easy, and without the benefit of having gone through a lot together, perhaps she would be uncomfortable with having a relationship with someone of a different species. I just knew I had to try.

As a cover for spending so much time with Tobias, I was to be his teacher. In reality, I did tell him about my people, but mostly we just spent time in one another's company. We'd take walks in the park, sit, in my case stand, in the shade of a tree; it was the most fulfilling time of my life. I told him of my people, and he in turn told me what it was like being raised by me. I was happy to hear of his childhood. Even though I hadn't raised him, there'd been someone who did, and that was all that mattered. I didn't have to worry about a war, or how to keep my family safe; all I did was bask in the sun and the enjoyment of each day I got to spend with my son. I still couldn't believe it. Every day, when I woke up and saw Tobias I marveled at my luck. I got the chance to speak to my son for hours each day. All we did was spend time in each other's company, but that was all we needed. I saw how much my son had missed me, or rather his father who had raised him, and I could not be happier to be able to get to know my son. Ever since I had left him, as a child, I had felt a hole in my life. One that he now filled. My life was complete now that I could spend it with him.

At about five thirty, Earth time, Loren would pick Tobias up from the local university. It wasn't needed. Our walks didn't take us particularly in that area, yet Tobias insisted. I thought it was for the cover, until one day I discovered his true motive. I usually walked Tobias to the car, mostly so I could say hi to Loren, but also to see my son off. Loren and I ended up exchanging a few phrases here and there. But today was different.

No sooner had we got to the car, than Tobias' face lit up with recollection.

"I forgot something inside!" He cried, dashing back into the building, leaving Loren and I alone. She came out of the car to my side, and leaned against it.

"So Elfangor, what do you do when you're not teaching my son?" She asked.

I was surprised. She hadn't asked me something like this before. However, not being one to turn down an opportunity like this, I replied, I read mostly. Sometimes I run. Running is very good for Andalites; it doesn't do for us to be in enclosed spaces very long. And so started our conversation. It was about five minutes later when Tobias came back, holding his sweater.

"Sorry for taking so long," he panted. "Forgot where I left it."

"It's alright," Loren told him. "Now let's get home for supper. It was nice talking to you, Elfangor."

I waved them goodbye. The pleasure was mine, Loren. Goodbye, Tobias.

"Bye. Thanks." Goodbye, Dad. He added in thought-speak privately. If I had a mouth, I would've smiled. He always said goodbye to me like that and I loved him for it.

The next day, I asked Tobias whether he had actually forgotten his sweater.

"I really did." He said. "But when I realized the opportunity it provided, I took a longer time getting it." I laughed at that and ruffled my son's hair.

From then on, it seemed that Tobias became very forgetful. It was common for him to have to go back and get his things before leaving.

Your mother's going to realize something's up. I told him one day, as we walked through the park. She's very perceptive you know.

He shrugged. "I can't help it. I thought it was a good idea and it's working, so..."

I put a hand on his shoulder. Tobias I appreciate the help, but you know I can ask your mother out on my own. He stopped, turning quickly to look at me, excitement all over his face.

"You're going to ask her out?"

I laughed. Maybe. I've been thinking about it more and more now.

"Oh, Father! His eyes shone with happiness. You have to. I know she'll say yes. I know she will!"

Calm down, Tobias. I've only thought about it. Besides, there's something I'll have to do first.

I'd thought about this a lot as well. It'd been a long time since I'd morphed a human. Since I'd left Earth, in fact. I had decided if I was going to ask Loren out, I'd do it as a human. I knew eventually, if I got her to fall in love with me again, I'd morph human permanently so I could be with her, but for now, it would just be this once. I still had that morph within me, the one I used during my time with her. I'd use it again. After all, that man was Tobias' father.

For the next few days, the minute we were alone, Tobias would ask me if I would ask her that day. I told him I had things to prepare, he'd have to wait. After a few weeks, he stopped asking. After a month had passed, I realized, all my plans were in order. I knew exactly how I wanted everything to go, yet I still hadn't asked her. We'd grown close enough that I'd been invited to a few afternoons spent with her and Tobias. There were no complications, however, I only waited. Eventually, I had to admit to myself that I was scared. I hadn't asked her yet because I was scared she'd say no. I didn't want to get hurt. One day, without meaning to, I voiced my fears to Tobias.

We were walking in the Gardens, when all of a sudden, Tobias blurted,

"Why haven't you asked her yet?" I looked round at him. "It's been so long. I keep waiting and you just don't."

I know, Tobias. It's just... It's hard.

Tobias shook his head. "You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't pressure you."

He'd clearly meant to end it there, but I continued. I felt this weight on my chest that I had to get off. I'm just worried she'll say no. I blurted. I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt the pressure go away.

Tobias looked at me. "Of course she won't." He reassured me. "Dad, you may not able to see it because you're looking too hard, or because you don't see her as much, but she gets excited for you too. I've seen her get ready to bring me to you, it's like she's going to see someone important. Trust me. You have absolutely nothing to worry about."

It's not just that, Tobias. She's only seen me as an Andalite. Maybe she'll feel strange going out with someone who's not fully human.

Tobias shook his head. "She's not like that. You know that. What about last time? How did she react then?"

It was different then. We'd been through a lot and-

"Father, I don't know that much about what you did, but the Elfangor who raised me told me the story of him getting Mom to say yes. He said he simply showed her. He told her he was going to be human for her, and she loved him." I looked at him; there were tears in his eyes. I knew he was crying for the world that was lost, where he grew up happy. I felt a swell of jealousy in my chest. Not for the other Elfangor, mind you, or that Tobias cried for his father, while I was right there. I understood that. I felt jealous of the fact that I didn't get to raise my son like I'd wanted to. That it wasn't me that gave him a good childhood. Instead, the fact that he did have one will have to be enough. I reached out and out my arm around him. He leaned against me as we walked.

Thank you, Tobias. I said after some silence. You have helped me a great deal. And the next day, I finally asked her.

"Already? Why it's only been three months! What were you waiting for?" I smiled at her reaction with my human mouth. It was Saturday, the day we decided Tobias wouldn't have a "lesson." I ended up spending most of my time at their house anyway. I had morphed human beforehand and knocked on the door. Loren had opened it.

"Can I help you?" She'd asked

I couldn't help smiling. She was so much more beautiful to me as a human. It's me, Loren. I'd replied in thought-speak. She'd gasped and covered her mouth.

"What are you doing in human morph?"

"I wanted to ask you something and I thought it would be better like this." And then I asked her.

I was so relieved at her response that my smile grew to cover my entire face. She laughed and asked if I wanted to come inside. I came in and sat down on the couch. Oh how I'd wanted to do that for so long.

"I have to say, Elfangor," She began. "I've seen Ax and other Andalites morph human. They don't seem to be as...adjusted as you are. You seem very comfortable in this morph.

"Well this isn't the first time I've morphed a human." I said. I decided to tell her the truth about this. Or at least most of the truth. "It was during the war, when I'd decided I'd had enough. I escaped to Earth to spend some time here away from the conflict, and gather my strength. I had to morph human to blend in, spent a few years here. It kind of gave me a lot of time to adjust."

"I see." Loren nodded her head. "Well, I'm sure you're real glad the war is over now, then."

I smiled. "Yes. More than anything."

Loren started. "Oh! I forgot to call Tobias." She stood up and went to the stairs. "Tobias!" She called. Elfangor's here. "He has something to show you." She gave me a conspiratorial smile. We waited for Tobias to come down. The moment he came into the room, I stood up to greet him. He stopped dead in his tracks. A look of horror crossed his face.

Dad? I heard softly in my mind. I grew cold as I realized what had just happened. The morph I had was the same as the one Tobias knew as his father. He had thought his father had come back. When Tobias still didn't move, Loren came to see if he was alright.

"Tobias? You alright?" She asked. "That's Elfangor. He just morphed human, that's all."

Tobias unfroze and fixed his gaze on his mother. "Right, sorry. I was just surprised. Excuse me, Mom, I told Rachel I'd go see her. I'll just go outside for a minute to call her and cancel."

"Oh, you don't have to do that." Loren was obviously very confused.

"It's fine. It'll only take a moment." He still didn't look at me again as he left the room. I knew I had to talk to him.

Loren looked at me, bewildered. "What was all that?

I shrugged. "I'll go talk to him." I said, and followed him outside.

I found him leaning against the side of the house, his chest heaving, as he drew in great wracking breaths.

Tobias. I said in thought-speak to him. He looked up and came closer slowly. Dad? He asked.

I'm sorry. I didn't know it was the same. I'm so sorry, I didn't know. I reached him and put my arms around him. Something inside him shattered, and he broke down in my arms. I held him as I should've done since he was born, in the body that had created him. I found tears on my cheeks as well as I clutched my son to me.

"I missed you, Dad." Tobias sobbed. "I didn't know how much I missed you like this until now." I realized how much more emotional this would be for him. I was wearing the face of the man who had raised him. He had left him behind and came to a world where he was dead. The man he had looked up to more than anything. I squeezed him tighter. Once he had calmed down, I looked him in the eye and said, "I love you, Tobias."

"I love you, Dad." He replied, and all was fine again.

Soon after, we went back inside to face Loren, who had gone to make lunch

"Everything all sorted out?" She asked, as we entered the kitchen.

"Yup." Tobias responded, hopping onto the counter. "What are you making? Smells good."

"Chili." She said simply. Then, her back still turned to me, she asked. "So where are you taking me on our date, Elfangor?" Tobias' head snapped in my direction. I smiled at him and replied.

"I've heard you have a bird morph?"

"Uhuh."

"Well, it'll come in handy." She stole a quick glance at me to flash me a smile before returning to her cooking. I chuckled softly.

Tobias, looking pointedly at me, mouthed, "I told you so." I shook my head at him, but the smile never left my face.

I took her to The Gardens that night. We flew above the exhibits and enclosures. The park was beautiful at night, and I showed it to her. Then, we swam with the dolphins. I helped her get a morph since she didn't have one, and we played. It felt so freeing; the dolphins' natural happiness mingling with our own and we danced through the water. After that, I took her home. Walking her to the door, I stopped at the step to the porch. I was human now. I had started the date that way, and wanted to end it the same. She looked at me, smiling; her eyes shining bright in the moonlight. Instinctively, I moved to put a stray hair behind her ear.

"Tonight was wonderful. Thank you, Elfangor." She said.

"My pleasure. I was thinking we might go out again?" I asked, taking a chance.

She nodded. "I'd like that." I smiled, and turned to walk away. "Elfangor!" She cried out. I looked back. "Aren't you forgetting something?" I looked at her curiously. She seemed to be waiting for something. I retraced my steps, moving closer to her. Her sly smile widened as I came closer. She closed the distance between us, locking her hands behind my neck and placing her lips gently on mine. I'd forgotten what it was like to kiss her, but now, I remembered. The feeling made me burst with happiness. I honestly hadn't thought we'd progress this quickly. When she pulled away, I looked her in the eye and asked, "Did I do that alright?"

"She smiled, softly. "Yes. It was quite alright.

"Goodnight, Loren." In the back of my mind, I noticed my time as a human was almost up. For now. However, I waited until she went in her door, before moving off to morph back. However, once I was back in Andalite form, I immediately switched back to human. You see, I wanted to smile. I was so happy; I couldn't keep it off my face. And Andalites don't have mouths.

"I knew would Tobias want to know everything, the moment I saw him the next day. I could see him barely restraining himself as we began our walk.

It took only a few moments before he blurted, "Tell me everything."

I laughed. Tobias, what goes on between me and your mother is none of your business.

"Please." He begged. "Just tell me where you went."

I sighed. I took her to The Gardens. We flew around, swam with the dolphins; that was it.

"Did you kiss her?"

Tobias! He shrugged, not looking the least bit regretful. I sighed again. Yes.

"Really?" I didn't reply. "Yes! I knew you would."

I shook my head, exasperated at my son. But I couldn't stay mad at him for long. I couldn't blame him for wanting his parents to be together. I may have also been trying to calm him down, to try and hide the excitement in me. I feared if he continued like this, my own elation would have me dancing around as he was. We stopped at a bench for Tobias to sit down. Then a thought occurred to me. I began to morph. My morph, luckily, had normal clothing, so I didn't look strange. Tobias stood up when he noticed me changing, but sat down once he realized what I was doing. Once fully human, I sat down next to him. "I can't believe we didn't think of this before." I mused. Looking over at Tobias, I could see the change in his reaction to me in this form this time round. He was simply pleased to see me like this. I think, in his mind, he'd always imagined me this way. We spent close to two hours talking on that bench. At the time limit, I morphed back to Andalite, but only for a moment before reverting back to human. From then on, it was smooth sailing. Loren and I grew closer each day, every other day I spent with my son, and it seemed all was well.


	23. The Family

A few months later, I asked her to marry me. She said yes. I told her that I would change for her. That I'd choose to stay human forever, for her. She cried and clutched me to her when she heard that. I just smiled as I laid my cheek on her head. This was easy for me. I loved her so much; I never wanted to be away from her. Doing this a second time was much easier. Though I knew more what I was giving up, and it wasn't even necessary this time, I felt that much closer to her, and that much more determined to do it. My time as an Andalite was long over. I would finish my life as a human, with my family. We waited for Tobias. The three of us sat in the living room on the couch, my wife on my left, my son on my right. I told them the moment the two hours were up. Tobias gave a tiny sigh of relief; Loren squeezed my hand and put her head on my shoulder. This was what I had waited for. I couldn't believe I was worthy to finally have it.

One night, I jumped awake in bed next to Loren, breathing heavily. I tried to shake off the feeling of the dream I'd had. Loren, awoken by my cries, pulled me back down next to her and held me close. Clutching her to me helped me calm down.

"Tell me." she said simply.

I didn't know whether it was the night, or that I was scared or I thought she deserved to know, but I told her.

"It was the war."

"When you fought against the Yeerks?"

I nodded. The dream had been of a particular memory of mine. I had just been forced to leave Loren. This had been in my first month of being a Prince. There had been a battle. We had won, but I had killed the enemy general, even after they had surrendered and he lay wounded on the ground. I had convinced myself it'd been a strategic move, he'd been too dangerous to be left alive, but I did not really believe it myself. Now, I was ashamed of what I'd done. I didn't tell Loren the whole dream, but I told her of the battle, and how angry and lost I'd been.

"That was right after I had to leave..." I stopped. I couldn't believe what I'd just been about to say. I still hadn't told her of our past. How could I? Either she wouldn't believe me, and get angry, or she'd blame me for leaving her and ruining her life. Tobias frequently pushed me to tell her, but I always had some excuse. I wondered if really I might just be a coward. She did deserve to know, but I hadn't been prepared, so I hoped she'd drop it.

"Right after you had to leave...what?" I sighed. I might as well have wished for the sun to shine at night, she was way too inquisitive for that.

"It's nothing, Loren."

She sat up to face me, kindness in her eyes. "Don't lie to me, Elfangor. I know you; I can see when something is bothering you. I leave your past alone because I know you don't like to talk about it, but sometimes you just have to let it out." I could see she was only trying to help me; she thought talking about whatever it was would bring me peace. But it wasn't that simple. "And if you don't tell me now, it's just gonna keep bothering you and eventually you'll tell me." She continued. "So let's skip all of that and have you tell me now instead."

I smiled grimly at her logic. She was right; eventually I would tell her. However, until then, I'd just keep pushing it off. I'd have to tell her now, when she wants to hear it. I sat up as well, propping my head up with my hand as I faced her.

"I'll tell you, Loren. And not just this dream. I want to tell you everything that has happened to me. I love you and I want you to know everything about me. I have no secrets from you." She nodded and I began.

I told her a lot of my past. Growing up on my homeworld, training as a cadet, entering the army. I told her of my early days as a soldier, and the trials I'd faced. I got to the part with the Time Matrix and stopped. This was it. Once I started, there'd be no going back. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell her so badly. I wanted her to know that Tobias was my son. How I'd loved her before and what she'd done for me. There was so much she needed to know; there was really no choice at all in telling her. I gathered my wits and the words flowed from my mouth.

"It was on one of my very first missions, that I was sent to retrieve some valuable cargo that had been stolen by some aliens." Once I started talking, I couldn't stop, and Loren, my beautiful wife, just lay there, listening, love in her eyes. "Little did we know, they'd also captured two humans from Earth. In our effort to return this valuable cargo – a weapon immense power – we were unable to return these two humans for a while. One of them was girl of about sixteen. I was about her age then and we grew close. The aftermath of that mission was not exactly what I'd call a success. It was during this time that Visser Three, the Abomination, was created. By my hand." Loren caressed my cheek with her hand.

"Oh, Elfangor, I'm sure you didn't—

"I know what you're saying, Loren. That it wasn't my fault, I couldn't have done anything. But the fact remains; it was because of my actions, my inattention that he was created. Nevertheless, after our mission was complete, I decided not to return to my people. Ashamed at what I'd done, and scarred by the terrors of war, I decided to return with the girl I loved back to Earth."

Loren didn't exactly squirm at this, but I could tell she wasn't comfortable. "The girl you loved?"

"The human girl who'd had been captured. She and I had been through a lot together and she'd helped me out a few times. I wanted to stay with her. Remember I told you I'd been to Earth once before? This was it. I came and I married her. I was happy here."

However she felt, I knew Loren sensed something terrible had happened and wanted to comfort me. "What happened then?" she asked, stroking my arm.

I looked down. "The Ellimist." She'd heard of him before from Tobias and Aximili. Her expression confirmed this. "He told me that I had abandoned my duty and that I had to return to my people. I didn't want to leave. I was happy. I had a life, a job, someone who loved me; I didn't want to return to the war. However, there's no fighting the Ellimist. He made me leave and took her memories."

"Who's?"

"The woman I loved. She no longer knew who I was. It was like I'd never existed to her. That's when I returned to my people. When I fought until, once again, I came to Earth." There were tears on my face when I finished. Though I had Loren right here, it hurt to think of when I'd had to leave her, the time without her.

"I'm sorry, Elfangor." Loren came closer and kissed my cheeks where my tears had fallen. There was a brief silence where I waited for her to speak again.

"Forgive me for asking, but why didn't you go to this woman you loved when you came back? Wouldn't you want to try and find her?"

My heart began to beat faster as we got closer to the moment, but I kept my expression clear. "What good would that have done? She didn't remember me."

"But you remembered her. Maybe she could've loved you again."

"But we've both changed. What if it wasn't possible?"

"If you truly loved her, wouldn't you do everything to try and get her to...?" She stopped and looked deep into my eyes for a long time. Finally, her eyes lit up and she asked, "It's me, isn't it?"

I smiled at her slightly as the tears continued pouring down my face. Her lip began to tremble, the tremor spreading to her whole body. She continued to shake as I reached out and held her, her cries and tears soaking into my shirt. This had gone better than I'd ever imagined. I'd always been afraid that she would blame me for leaving her. That she was still here, crying in my arms, was almost more than I could take.

Finally, she quieted and raised her head to look at me. "All this time..."

"I love you, Loren. I always have."

"I love you, Elfangor." She whispered, and her lips came and found mine. After what seemed like an eternity later, she started, as a thought came to her mind.

"Tobias?" She said.

I nodded. "He's our son." By the look on her face, it seemed the tears were threatening to come again, but she simply looked at me with wonder in her eyes.

"I should've known." She said.

"You couldn't have, my love. I'm sorry we couldn't tell you, though."

" _I'm_ sorry you had to keep it a secret." She replied. "That must have been hard."

I laughed. "Tobias has been trying to get me to tell you for weeks."

"Did he really sign up for that program?"

I smiled that she thought of that. "No, though it does exist. I just needed an excuse to spend time with him."

"And with me?" She asked, smiling slyly.

My smile widened. "I think Tobias took care of that for us."

She laughed as well. I noticed her eyes were still shining, but they were tears of happiness and that was all that mattered.


	24. Tobias' Story

Tobias

Many years later, I sat by my father's bedside as he breathed his last. He was an old man, tired and close to the end. My mother sat on his other side, holding his hand. The rest of the Animorphs stood at the back of the room. Jake, Cassie, Marco, Rachel, even Ax had come. All the way from his homeworld. We'd all come with our families. Rachel and my children, Jake and Cassie's, Marco's daughter had also been there. They had all left the room a while ago, after saying goodbye to Elfangor. He'd been like a grandfather to all of them, even those not directly related to him. He was the head of this huge family. It was amazing how many lives he'd touched. My father had spoken to each of the Animorphs separately not long ago. They'd all had tears on their faces when he'd finished. I could tell how much he'd meant to all of them. In this room, you could see whole his legacy.

His brother, standing in for his homeworld and the people who still mourned him. Aximili represented his Andalite life and all he had done as a warrior. The honor and sacrifice, the pain and horrors of war he'd endured, but also the pride. The incredible strength and dignity he'd possessed as an Andalite. Then, there were the Animorphs, the saviors of Earth, who owed it all to him, the one who'd saved them, giving them the power to save their world, injured and dying as he'd been. Earth owed him the biggest debt of all. Holding his hand was the woman he loved. Who he'd lost and regained, the woman he'd been with during the times of his life spent in peace. She was the reason he'd fought, the motivation to go through all that pain. So he, and others like him, could live lives that meant something. I'd often heard my father say his life would've been meaningless without my mother and I.

Lastly, there was me. The son he'd raised, the son he'd left. I knew my father the most, I'd seen the pain in his eyes from his past; I'd seen him lose the love of his life. I knew him as the hero, who'd fought even when he could not enter the battle. I'd lost him and regained him as well, and now, it didn't seem like I was ready to lose him again. I sat by my father's bedside and cried for all that he'd been, all that he'd done, all he'd lost. My father put a wrinkled hand to my wet cheek, lifting it and forcing me to look him in the eye. He smiled at me, his eyes – surrounded by laugh lines – reassuring as ever. I could not smile back, not now.

"Don't cry, my son." He said. "It is my time."

I shook my head. "I am not ready."

"You are, Tobias. You will be fine."

"I still need you. I don't want you to leave me."

He moved his hand to mine and squeezed it. "I will _never_ leave you, Tobias." He promised. "I will always be with you." I nodded my head silently, the tears streaming down my face. "Live your life for me, Tobias." He continued. "Love your wife," his eyes moved to Rachel, "raise your children, be the best man you can be, the man I know you are."

"Yes, Father." I replied. He started coughing and I came closer, as did my mother, trying to comfort him.

"Do you remember the first time you called me a hero?"

I knew he spoke of when I was a child, when he hadn't known me. However, I'd told him of the time when I was raised by an Elfangor from a different world. "Yes, Father."

"Do you really think I am fitting of that title?"

I bowed my head. "There is no one more worthy of it than you?"

"Then put that on my gravestone. If you think I am worthy, I would like to be remembered for that." I simply nodded, I could not speak again. "Aximili." He called.

My uncle stepped forward, coming closer to the bed, in view of Elfangor. I am here, brother.

Have you forgiven me, Aximili?

I do not blame you, Elfangor. You are a greater man than I could ever have hoped to be. I have forgiven you long ago.

You are greater than you think you are, Aximili. If I am given the title of hero, you will be my successor. If it is accepted, I bestow this honor on you.

Thank you, brother. Aximili took his brother's hand, then stepped back against the wall.

My father's eyes turned to the woman beside him. "You told me once your love for me will continuously grow."

"Succeeding your death." She told him.

"As mine will for you, until you join me." He replied. I could not look away from this touching scene of husband and wife. My parents had gone through so much. They'd finally been able to live in peace together, grow old together, and this was a symbolism of all that. I saw how much they loved each other, how much they'd sacrificed. They didn't say much, but they didn't need to. It'd all been said in the years they'd spent together, in the love they'd shared.

"Tobias." My father asked for my hand again as the moment drew near. I clutched his with both of mine, vowing to never let go. "I will always be with you." He promised. To the other Animorphs he said, "You have done so much in my name, live your lives in the world you built for yourselves." To Aximili, called forward once more, he said, Aximili, it is time.

I am the servant of the people Elfangor bowed his head. I am the servant of my Family. He looked upward. I am the servant of honor. My life is not my own, when the people have need of it. My life is given for the people, for my Family, for my honor.

I recognized this as the Andalite parting ritual. I knew Elfangor spoke of both his peoples here. The Andalites and the humans, two species he'd worked so hard to protect. He'd also switched out the Andalite sentiment "Prince" for the more inclusive "Family" to include all those present and all those he'd cared for. I cried as I heard the words. My mother kissed his forehead. He died holding her hand.

We all went to our homes afterwards. Rachel and I to ours, Jake and Cassie to theirs, Marco and Ax to theirs respectively. I cried no more after that. All my thoughts were pleasant of the man who'd been my father. The man with the word "hero" on his gravestone, under the name Elfangor. I was proud to have been his son and appreciated all he'd done for me.

That night, my oldest daughter, Eleanor – "El" for short – cried in her sleep. It was Rachel's turn to get up, but I went instead. I walked past the door where my two other children slept, and entered Eleanor's bedroom. She twisted and turned in her sleep. Pulling a chair over, I sat by her bed and calmed her down, stroking her hair and face. Then, at a thought, I began to speak to her as she slumbered.

"Once upon a time, on the faraway homeworld of the Andalites, there lived a boy with his parents. He was a normal child, happy in his life, who would grow up to be a great hero, a savior of worlds. He would fight and endure pain, and loss, but he would know happiness too. He was known to the peoples of the two worlds he'd saved, so different yet so the same. And his name was Elfangor."

 **A/N: This is it guys, the end. I've finally reached the end of my storytelling. As you can see, we've come full circle and it's time to say goodbye to my favorite father and son. I hope you enjoyed reading their story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Never stop reading and if you ever want to see something happen between two people, just write it yourself. Happy travels, Sharklist.**


End file.
